DEATH
My Aunt Died Aged Eighty-Seven
Reflections on a life well lived
My auntie Denise, as I always called her, passed peacefully on Sunday 25th February 2024 after a short illness. She was born in 1936 so would’ve turned 88 this coming May.
Auntie Denise was my mother’s middle sister – one of four siblings all born in May in the 1930s. Their father – Papa Joe – was cricket crazy, and named all his children after cricketers.
Hence, the three sisters arrived in the UK in the late 1950s and early 1960s, graced with male names – Denis quickly added an E onto her name to make into Denise.
Due to her colouring and straight hair, Denise was often thought to be from the Indian subcontinental rather than from the West Indies. This she liked to play up by accentuating the mole in the middle of her forehead into a Bindi.
She and my mother – three years apart in age- were extremely close their whole lives. Denise gave birth to her first and only child the same year my mother had me. Spending time together and babysitting for one another was a natural consequence of their shared maternal experience.
