Bittersweet

As posted earlier, just prior to our arrival, my Aunt Muriel suffered a serious stroke and was hospitalized, so Lynn was tied up tending to her mother. Her sister Ali was on an international trip, Aunt Val was on a cruise to New Zealand, and sister Christine was wrapping up her affairs on the East Coast preparing for her move back to W.A. Lynn had the whole burden of her mother's situation on her shoulders, including Muriel's 14 year-old deaf (but cute) dog, Ollie.

Aunt Muriel rallied for a couple of days - Tuesday we had a great visit with her. She recognized me (said "you look like your father," and "sorry," apologizing for her ill health interfering with our holiday). On Wednesday 6 April, however, she suffered another stroke, and never regained consciousness. She passed away early Sunday morning, 11 April, with her three daughters by her bedside. It was a bittersweet experience for us, as we were there during her last hours and were able to help comfort Lynn and the family, but it was sad to realize she had gone.

Our trip to Perth was not what we had expected when we set out, but we were so glad that we were able to be there to see Aunt Muriel once again before she left us, and to bond even more closely with Lynn, Russell, and the extended family.

We met Elliot (Ali's oldest son); Christine (Lynn and Ali's sister) for the first time, as well as her grandsons (Nathan and Leanne's sons, Lochy and Jack); and Chili and Ruby (Russell's grandchildren) --all for the first time. We also saw Aunt Val, cousins Gary, Sam, Holly, and Tyler (Ali's husband & children), and Aunt Eva (Uncle Stanley's youngest sister).

We enjoyed seeing Ali and Gary's new kitchen and Lynn and Russ's new house and dog, Teddy. We rode the new rapid transit into downtown Perth; toured Mandurah, Freemantle and the coast between there and Perth with Russell; had two fabulous dinners with Dean and Glenda (Russell's daughter) and Russell, and one with Leanne, Nathan, and boys, at their home, and in general just had a wonderful time visiting with the family.

Our visit ended all too soon, but we had an unchangeable ticket, so off we went, back to Bangkok on 13 April.

See Photos at: http://flickr.com/gp/21984041@N08/Rh95K6/

Goldenbear70 & His Honey
Bangkok, Thailand 2219, 04/15/2011