June 1, 2014	INDEX
This is my mother, her sisters and my grandmother Jessie (in the centre). The oldest of my aunts was June Williams, who married a high flying Nigerian called John Agbazi. She went to live with him in Africa but the marriage didn't work. Several years later she was diagnosed with serious manic depression (today we would probably say she was bipolar). She eventually died of a cerebral haemorrhage. I am told this is a recognised complication of some of the medication they gave her. My mother (the one with the glasses) died quite recently.
My aunt Audrey (the one standing behind June) is to be buried on Tuesday June 3, and I find it hard to believe it's really happening. I saw her a short while before Christmas and she was quite open about a long series of medical problems she was having, but you hear stuff like that when you go and see old people. The first topic of conversation is the medical appointments they have had. I guess I just didn't want to believe it. I'm sure Gwen (the one behind my mother and as she puts it 'the last one standing') would not mind if I said that Audrey was my favourite Aunt. She was very kind to me when I was a child, bought me lots of things and generally spoilt me when I went to visit. When I stayed with my grandparents I slept in Audrey's room. She was great to me, probably because I was the first born male in my generation and of course my grandparents had four daughters (plus one who died in childbirth). So I'm supposed to go to her funeral but I'm not really convinced I'm up to it. I'm going to forget the date, or the location, or something will go wrong. Somehow it seems wrong that she is dead.
INDEX	June 1, 2014 Jonathan Brind