Very Sad News

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.