Cioci

Here's another ancient photo. Hubby's guess is that it's from around 1940. On the left is hubby's aunt. We called her Cioci, which is the Polish word for aunt. To her right is her husband and next to him is hubby's mother. Our children always called her Babci, which is another Polish word and translates into grandmother.

Cioci died last week at the age of 96. She was not in good health for the last few years and needed help, but she stayed in her home and passed away quietly in her sleep.

She did not have an easy life. Her husband had a good job with the transit system in New York, but one day he was digging in the garden to plant tomatoes and hit his foot with the shovel. He died of lockjaw. Her daughter died of cancer. Her son, a musician whose band played at our wedding, also died.

Despite the tragedies, Cioci remained positive. With a tender heart, she felt compelled to feed the stray cats outside. When she found a mouse in her house, she put it in a cage fearing that is she let it go the cats would get it. She always had a joke to tell and she loved to feed us when we visited. She kept in touch, too, by phoning on a regular basis.

She had eight grandchildren and several great-grand children. Her funeral was a celebration of her life. Yes, we'll miss her, but it was a privilege to have known her.