A Memorial to my Cousin

My oldest cousin passed away very unexpectedly a year ago. I always admired her. She was the oldest out of sixteen cousins in our family. We moved away from New England when I was in second grade so we didn’t grow up together. But she stayed in touch with my mom to the end. They moved to Miami briefly and visited us with their newborn daughter. I was in high school at the time. Over the years we would meet up. She visited us in the Midwest and was the first family member to meet my husband. We drove to Chicago to say hi to her and her husband when they were in town. We saw them whenever we visited Boston. We planned my mom and dad’s surprise fiftieth wedding anniversary party at her house. She even had a wedding cake made that looked like the original. They came to visit us on Capitol Hill. She visited my mom and dad whenever they were in Florida and sent my mom scratch offs and chow mein noodles only found in the old hometown. She came to my mom’s funeral. She was the first to head off to college. She majored in biology at Northeastern University, genetics at Tufts, and an MBA at Boston University. She loved to travel. Her husband recently set up a memorial fund at Tufts University in her name. So my husband and I made a donation in her honor. She had a wonderful life. I’m so glad I knew her, but I also miss her.