We had the Memorial for my Aunt Susi today. Everyone kept asking me if I was alright when honestly, I’m not going to be alright for quite a while. I stammered through the question. Teared up the first couple of times. Then I started just answering “ok” and then explaining that I’m not ok but saying I’m ok makes me feel better. At least… it didn’t make me cry.

I was sitting there (because I wore heels that required seating occasionally) and I was thinking about one of my fondest memories with Susi. I have a bunch. Enough to write a book probably, but I will leave you with the last time I laughed until I cried, my most recent, favorite story featuring her. PS You probably had to be there but I hope you laugh anyway.

We were making cookies before Christmas. Susi didn’t always come for cookie day but this past year she did (and I’m so grateful now that she did). We each had our task at hand. (Aunt) Liz was working the timers. Mom was making and cutting cookies. I was in charge of getting the cookies out of the oven and Susi was taking the cookies off of the pans and making sure mom had a cool pan to put raw cookies on for baking.

We were all just chatting along and Susi had just put a hot pan in the sink. She had to take the hot pad off of the counter in order to move the pan. At the same time, I pulled a hot pan of cookies out of the oven and went to lay the pan on the counter but there was no hot pad sitting there any more. I panicked because my hand was burning but I couldn’t put down the pan. Susi saw me panicking and wanted to help but saw that I had a hot pad and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t just using it. I told her, “HOT PAD!”, gesturing to the hot pad she was holding. She saw me holding the pan with a hot pad and she knew SHE was also holding a hot pad, but she couldn’t figure out, for the life of her, what I wanted her to do with the hot pad. By now, my hand was burning so bad I had started to go down to my knees which also lowered the hot pan of course. Sus was still holding her hot pad, she had figured out that I wanted the hot pad under my pan, but NOW she didn’t know where I wanted it because I was basically melting to the floor. What did she do with the hot pad?

SHE THREW IT ON THE FLOOR SO I COULD PUT THE PAN ON IT. What good is a hot pad on a stone tile floor?!? LOL

Somehow, somewhere I put the pan down, but I was laughing too hard by now to explain that I had wanted her to put the hot pad back on the counter where she had moved it from so I could set the pan back there. She was laughing because she couldn’t figure out what I wanted. I was laughing because she threw the hot pad on the floor. We were both laughing because of how the situation had unfolded. I laughed so hard that I couldn’t breath. Mom and Liz were laughing either because they had seen the event occur and/or because Susi and I were laughing so hard. I laughed until I cried several times over just thinking about it the week that followed.

It was just the most pure miscommunication with the best intentions I’ve ever experienced. There was no way we could be mad about it, it was too funny. My hand was red for 20 minutes after that. It only made everything funnier.

…It makes me sad now to think about it because I just realized we won’t ever get to laugh with each other about it again…

Hold your family close tonight. Call your extended family. Make plans to get together so that you’re not only seeing them at times like this when your favorite people are gone from your lives suddenly. Reminisce now while you can, while they’re present. Laugh until you cry. Cry until you laugh. Hug them all and tell them you love them.