My phone rang at 5:45 this morning and I saw it was my cousin. I knew right away what the call was about. My cousin Jennifer had passed away. Admittedly, this wasn't a shock like my friend Ed. As I mentioned the other day, this had been a long battle that took it's toll on her. From talking to my cousins, there seems to be a sense of relief with Jenn's passing that she is no longer suffering.
I can't claim to have been terribly close with Jenn. Like many extended families, we pretty much had a "holidays and special occasions" relationship. Nevertheless, I loved her dearly, and she always made me feel loved by always greeting me with a big smile and hug and seeming so happy to see me.
Having such an infrequent relationship, plus the fact that when the families did get together I tended to understandably socialize more with her brothers, I sadly don't have a surplus of memories with Jenn. But I did know her well enough to know that she was a super sweet girl with a huge heart, and everyone that became a part of her life loved her.
I wish I could somehow share and ease the pain that her immediate family is going through. Having no siblings or kids, I can't even pretend to know what her parents or brothers are feeling right now. I can only imagine that it's a magnified version of the emptiness I felt when I lost my mom, but it's not the same. Jenn was only 46.
And then there's Jenn's own family; her husband Ben (who just lost his wife on his birthday, by the way), and their two beautiful daughters, Sophie and Julia. I can't even fathom their emotion right now. I've heard that kids process and deal with death better than adults do. I don't know if that's true, but I hope it is. Ben and his girls are going to need each other's strength more than ever now.
The one thing I know about the family is that they have always been emotionally strong, so I am confident that they will get through this (as they have been already during Jenn's struggle). It just saddens me that they even have to. 😢
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