I am very close to one "pair" of my aunts and uncles. I find this odd, if only because whenever someone else says "My uncle" to me, I assume they mean some relative that they barely know and never see and so I get this picture in my mind of some full-of-shit used car salesman wearing a checkered blazer and pants that don't match.

Anyway, my aunt's mother is dying. My aunt flew to Ireland a few days ago to see her.

My aunt's mother lives in Dundalk, Ireland, living in a kind of low-income neighborhood. She was a hairstylist, and her husband Jim used to drive trucks for Guinness. Jim is a very soft and kind man. There's something soothing about an old Irish person's accent. (male or female)

In Dundalk they all live in small houses, kind of like American suburbs but much poorer and closer together, usually with little backyards with clothes racks, separated from the other houses by concrete walls painted white. Everyone is poor and the usual news gossip involves young girls getting pregnant and cars being burnt.

I really like it there.

The doctors were trying to determine if my Aunt's mother has lung cancer, and yesterday they concluded just that. She had been an "enthusiastic" smoker all her life. One of my most salient memories of her, for some reason, was when I was much younger and standing outside a department store with her when she was visiting America. I was watching her as she was burning through cigarettes while telling me never to smoke.

The Irish doctors determined that nothing can be done, so they simply gave her enough morphine for several weeks and sent her home today. She's expected to die by the end of the month.

When she was transported back to her home, one of the neighbors jumped the wall (that separates the houses back yards from each other) to see my aunt's mother. He wanted to give his condolences. My aunt's mother was already in a pissy mood, as you can imagine. She asked him,

"Have you ever heard me and Jim fight?"
"No, ma'am! Never!"
"WELL WE'VE BEEN LISTENING TO YOU BEAT THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR WIFE FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS, AND YOU BETTER CUT IT OUT."

I imagine he didn't stay long.

Bravery in death? Maybe it was just bravery on drugs. I found it amusing and inspiring, nonetheless.