Last night we got a phone call from my grandfather, my Poppa and Angus’ Poppa II, telling us that our Auntie Lily had passed away.  Auntie Lily was one of those Christmas relatives… the ones that we didn’t see very often but she figures quite largely in my memories of childhood Christmases spent in Toowoomba at my Grandma and Poppa’s place.  Her own husband had passed away when she was I think 46 or 49 and her children were mostly grown and with their own families had moved away from Toowoomba by the time I was born… so Lily used to spend Christmas with us – along with Auntie Hilda and sometimes Aunti Noni.

I remember Aunties Hilda and Noni mostly sitting around drinking sherry with lemonade (yeurk!), always attempting to force Grandma to accept help in the kitchen and never looking particularly happy at all the noisy children in the house.  Whereas Auntie Lily would often be sitting on the floor playing with our new toys from Santa or tickling me a lot.  Auntie Lily was always my favourite of the ‘Christmas Aunties’ and every time I hear the name ‘Lily’ I can’t help but hear Marlene Dietrich singing Lili Marlene in my head  🙂

Auntie Lily was at my wedding and I remember how absolutely impressed she always was with Mr K… ‘that handsome young Canadian man’ she called him.  I remember on one occasion when we went to visit her small cottage home in Toowoomba and there was far too many people trying to sit around her small kitchen table so naturally we ran out of chairs.  Mr K offered me to sit on his lap to free a chair and Auntie Lily was quite amused by it and told me she thought it a ‘most gallant and romantic gesture’.   Mr K had certainly left an impression on her.  Even when her memory was playing games with her as she got older she might have forgotten many things but she never forgot ‘that handsome young Canadian’ and she was quite fond of him I think. 

She moved out to Surat about 8 or 9 years ago (which is a solid 6 hour drive from BrisVegas on less than happy highways) and I’ve only seen her once since then… when we went out for her 100th Birthday party in Feburary of 2002.  It was lovely to see her and she got to meet our Small Child who was only about 8 months old at the time and I remember her wondering aloud if he would end up with his father’s accent.  🙂

I know it shouldn’t be surprising to find that your great-aunt has passed away – especially given that she had recently turned 107 – but I was a little taken aback.  I just hadn’t expected to hear this news last night and was a little stunned I think.  Auntie Lily was a lovely woman who grew up in her family’s hotel, married and then lived on a farm until she lost her husband quite young.  She never remarried, had outlived all but one of her six children and lived alone until she was 98 at which point she went reluctantly into an assisted care environment. 

She was always ready with a smile and a cuddle and even though we rarely saw her… she will be missed.