FAREWELL AUNT SELMA

 

Aunt Selma, if I may, I am drinking a hot cup of Tetley in your memory.

I was gonna say "in your honor," but I must face the truth.

FAREWELL AUNT SELMA

Like my own mother, Bernice, we never thought you'd die. 

You were a fixture of our life, a wise woman, who knew everything

going on with our family.

Betty, she's a vegetable, you said

Once we were all tight, but years pulled us apart

like petals on a tulip

Sister Donna and I drove to see you in Cleveland

I slept over, in Gramma Green's old bedroom

Everything I examined to learn who I was then

and who I am now

That little porch that oddly ran off Mark's room

And your concrete basement where Marv did the wash

If there's a life after, you will see your beloved Marv.

Marvin Greenwold, from the Cleveland Press, a lover of politics

and reading great books. 

We knew the name Selma was Swedish,

You fit it so well with your love of parties and

jewelry and fancy dresses meant for a queen

Ascend then to Heaven, Aunt Selma, where

The Good Lord will await you with a hot

buttered English muffin, a cup of hot coffee,

and your mother, Eva Bernstein, sitting in the

lap of her Barney. 

In our eyes, you are alive and well.

Love always, Ruthie. 

Here is how Selma looked in recent days.

Thanks to Joyce Burke for sending it.