Very Sad News

[unforth]

One of my favorite cousins died last night. She had lung cancer. She was elderly, but she was always hardy and full of life. She was amazingly modern for a woman her age; I didn't know Belle that well but I could always count on her to be supportive and cheerful and encouraging, and strong. She was, to me, a quintessential "woman." She is a person I've aspired to be like since I met her - I want to be like that when I'm an old woman, full of joy and love and independence. A gift she gave me for graduation is one of the small number of things I actually brought with me to Japan. I can't believe I won't see ever see her at family events ever again. I'll miss her a lot. I'm just kind of shocked right now; she was always the sort who seemed like she would live forever, like nothing could keep her down.