The Garden in Heaven

The garden in Heaven must be abundant with all kinds of delicious vegetables, because you see heaven gained an angel, an excellent gardener and cook. Heaven gained one of the most amazing women I knew, and I pray everyday that I can be more like her. Kathleen Rushton, or Aunt Kay as she was known by most (even though she was most of our great aunts), passed away leaving this world and a lot of pain. Although we are most sad to see her go, it is a true blessing because she is no longer in pain.

Aunt Kay was kind, generous, giving, loving and so many other things. She was always always serving others. She was constantly cooking something delicious and giving it to someone else. I remember as a kid being so anxious to go to Aunt Kay's house because we knew she would be cooking something (if she didn't already have something made for us) and it was sure to be delicious. Aunt Kay could throw anything together and make it taste good, I'm not kidding. Not only was she a great cook and baker, she LOVED her garden. In fact, I think working in her garden kept her healthy longer. And even in her last days, when she was so weak her husband said he couldn't keep her out of her garden. Her son even shared a story at her funeral, one day she went out to tend to her garden and fell. She called for her husband but he was nowhere to be found. So she began picking the weeds around her, and moving around to get the weeds close to her. Eventually she was able to get back up and go inside, when her husband asked what she was doing she simply replied, "I was out picking weeds in the garden." She was always out in her garden, and it was the best garden I have ever seen.

The story above shares another great attribute of my aunt Kay. She was always positive. Aunt Kay has been sick for YEARS, but nobody ever heard her complain. She made the best out of every situation no matter what and that is something that I wish I could apply into my life. I never saw Aunt Kay without a smile on her face, and you never got away without getting a hug from her. She was truly happy and great at keeping positive, when I am sure that most would have surely given up.

I am sure that I will never meet anyone like Aunt Kay, and I am grateful for the summers I got to spend with her. I am sad that she did not live to meet my own little girl, but I hope that I can pass on some of her great attributes.

We love you Aunt Kay, you will be missed. Say hello to grandpa for me.