As you all might know, very recently my family and I lost two people very dear to us. I wanted to write something to make people aware about the two different battles these ladies fought. Auntie Julie and Auntie Sue or just Julie and Sue to a lot of you who knew them, were two of the most incredible women I ever had the pleasure and honor to know. They really touched my life and I'm sure many of yours too. Their constantly smiley faces and brilliant personalities could brighten anyone and everyone's day.
Two sisters, two mothers and two astonishing aunties. No one can put into words just how special they were to us. My fondest memories of these two women still play in my head every day and put a ridiculously huge grin on my face. Even though I will miss them everyday of my life, the memories of them act as a comfort blanket when the gap of their presence get's too hard to handle.Remembering the good times always helps. Remember that.
Memories
1. One of the most famous memories of Sue treasured within my family is Andy and Lou's wedding. My cousins wedding has to be our family at it's best. As we are quite a loud and large family we saw it as no obstacle to get straight to the dance floor. Not going to brag or anything but we are pretty good dancers when we are in our element. As the dance off began we formed the usual circle you've all probably experienced before and took it in turns to show off our talent. When it was Auntie Sue's go we were all intrigued to see what she had. If you're not xfamiliar with the 'crazy knees' dance move don't worry as we weren't before Sue completely executed it on the dance floor that evening. It's kind of hard to explain it in words without doing the action but lets just say you put both hands on your knees and kind of cross your arms back and forth while doing the same with your legs. (I just did it while writing this to try and explain it to you, it really didn't help.) Anyway, while she was doing this we all stopped dancing and just gawped at Sue with a weird frown on our face. She thought she was doing it perfectly. I have never laughed so much.
2. The award for the best biscuit/pudding selection definitely goes to my Auntie Julie. Whenever you were having a cup of tea or pudding after dinner, an array of biscuits,cakes , cookies and everything was placed in front of you. It always sticks in my head the thought of when I was sitting in the kitchen and in front of me trying to chose what to have and always obviously going for the chocolate ones. She had everything. She was one of the greatest hosts and catered for your every need. A very thoughtful and lovely woman.
3. We can't forget Robert. No this is not a person, it's a pudding. A long time ago , my family and I were introduced to a pudding , oddly named Robert. A recipe was handed to my Auntie Julie and arrived at one of family 'doos'.The pudding contained everything unhealthy you can possibly think of in one pudding and it appeared at every other family shenanigan after that. One day my Auntie Sue decided to give it a go too, so one time we were faced with two Roberts. You could see on their faces the anticipation to see who chose their Robert. The pressure was immense. I remember looking over at them and they were eagle eying everyone and mentally telling us to pick theirs. I decided to go with a small slice of each and walk away from the playing field. Robert will go down in history and I only hope I can make it as good as them one day.
4. The final memory I am going to share is the famous 'Trivia Pursue'. As a family we all sat down ready for a game of Trivia Pursuit. Mid way through the game we could all tell that Auntie Sue was really getting into the spirit of things and getting scarily competitive.At one point I think she was just screaming out the answers and I'm pretty sure she had square off with Auntie Julie about one of the answers. I had never seen anything like it. Frankly I was a little bit scared. It was funny though. Ever since that occasion the game has now been renamed 'Trivia Pursue' . Just for you Auntie Sue.
Their Battles
"One in six people suffer depression or a chronic anxiety disorder , these are not the worried well but those in severe mental pain with conditions crippling enough to prevent them from living normal lives." This quote stuck in my head when I first saw it. My Auntie Sue suffered a mental battle that no one could or can possibly explain. What we do know is that she was so unhappy within herself that it took over her body. She was not the same Auntie Sue we had known and loved for a long time. She was so ill that she took her own life earlier this year. What I want to stress is that there needs to be more help and more awareness about these mental battles that people face. Up until the start of this year I was unaware about the popularity of this mental condition. There is no where for severely mentally ill people to go when they are suicidal. I know this for a fact.
There needs to be a mentally ill A&E , somewhere where you don't need to fill in loads of forms about your physical health and wait in a three hour que to be told you're not at the right place. There needs to be somewhere you can go and talk and be admitted and looked after straight away. What my argument is , is that they can give a bed to someone with a broken arm or leg but not someone with a broken head. We cannot turn back the lock now or put ourselves in Auntie Sue's head but we can go on and spread awareness of this cause. The system needs fixing. I will always love my Auntie Sue and fight for her cause no matter what.
My Auntie Julie got diagnosed with secondary breast cancer 5 years ago and she was the strongest and toughest cancer fighter I have ever known or heard of. Even when she was so poorly she always seemed to keep a huge smile on her face. Up until the last few months of her life she would always be active and keep a conversation going even when it seemed to be fading. Her smile is one I can just picture in my head. I will remember her smiling, always. Her battle was long and hard and even the last time I saw her she was strong, I held her hand and she smiled at me and built up the strength to tell me she loved me. I will treasure that memory forever. I know there is no cure for terminal cancer but there are other things that need to be made aware of. Kirkwood Hospice in Huddersfield were absolutely amazing during the last few weeks of Auntie Julie's life. They made her feel as comfortable as possible and really took excellent care of her. I cant thank them enough. After the funeral my family started fundraising money for the hospice and what they do and it can really make a difference to terminally ill people. I urge you,if you have any spare money hanging around, to donate to this cause.
http://www.justgiving.com/Julie-Rohde?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fundraisingpage&utm_content=Julie-Rohde&utm_campaign=pfp-share-mobile
My Family
1. This song was played at Sue's funeral and is a beautiful tribute. I believe my Auntie Sue loved the lyric " You are the only one in any room you're ever in"
2. This song was played at Julie's funeral because she loved Erasure and danced around the living room hoovering to it.
Love you forever Auntie Julie & Auntie Sue X
Beau x
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