Challenging Week

My knitting accomplishment for the week is mainly the result of a sad event. My 70 year old aunt died last week, and we drove two hours to go to her funeral on Monday. I worked on these "classic" socks from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks most of the way there. She was my mom's sister-in-law and was one of those people who was always so active. I almost had this feeling like: she doesn't have time to die; she's got too many things to take care of. She loved music and directed her church's choir forever. I will always remember the wonderful Christmas Eve services that she organized every year; Her husband and children did such a good job of choosing her favorite songs for the funeral, which, of course, was all the more emotional for so many of us who had those memories of her singing those songs and directing the choir to sing them. There was standing room only, which is a testament to how many lives she impacted. I have seen her only rarely since I've been an adult, but was always happy when I did. I'm mostly sad for my uncle and her children and grandchildren. It was totally unexpected, not really tragic but still very sad. As one of her kids said, "Mom would have had us playing games and giving away prizes at her service, but we're just not there yet."
Anyway, I didn't intend to go on and on about it; it's just something that has filled my thoughts this week. I've thought about my aunt a lot as I finished these socks, and I've been even more contemplative then usual. I know that my grandparents loved my aunt, their daughter-in-law, so I like to imagine ajoyous reunion up in heaven. There are a lot of things I question about the world and why things are as they are, but it's reassuring to me that I have no doubt where my aunt is right now.