My mom had an older sister that was her best friend: Ruby.  They were inseparatable.  Ruby's husband Cleo was my favorite uncle, and  I loved the two of them like I loved my parents.  Ruby had not been able to have a child and she and Cleo were like second parents to me.  But seven years after I was born, she got pregnant and had my cousin Ann.  When you look at pictures of that event, they look like the Madonna holding the baby Jesus.  Ruby adored Ann.  She adored me.  We both adored her.  (Ann is my cousin here in Edmond that I mention from time to time.  We are like sisters.)

Later in her life, Ruby also had Alzheimer's.  (They say it can run in families.  But none of the seven people in the next generation were afflicted.  Or the generation after that who are now in their late fifties.) 

Ann cared for Ruby for years and years.  I think she did a much better job with her mother than I did with my mother.  Ann is a very compassionate person.  I am a fixer.  I tried to fix things for my mother that couldn't be fixed.  I think both of us did the best we knew how.  We were there when they needed us.  Just like they had been there when their mom needed them.

While I was still living in Pryor, I came to see Ruby in Edmond where she was the Alzheimer's care unit.  Ann told me she had been immobile and hadn't spoken for months.  It was so sad.  When I entered her room, I said, "Hello, Roobie-doobie.  I love you," just like I always did.  She opened her eyes and said,  "I love you, too."  Ann said she never spoke again.  Love conquers everything.

"A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  "John 13:34  Some people are easier to love than others.  Ruby was one of those.

One of the greatest blessings of my life was my family.  On my mother's side, they are all gone now.  Gran, Pops, five aunts and five uncles.  They shaped my life.