I see a woman that looks like you. Not exactly like you but she looks the way you would if you were sitting there. She is slightly aged. Her skin is a nice healthy sheen. She is wearing her hair curly just like you did. Same length and all except you colored yours Auburn. Yes… I remember. I wonder if she smells like you too. You use to wear that perfume that was strong and sophisticated just like you. She is tall and lengthy just like you. Just looking at her brought tears to my eyes. I had to look up to the ceiling of the train to stop them from falling down my face.

I miss you Auntie (Aunt Bertha). I hope no one sees these little tears or thinks I’m crazy. I’m just missing this lady that meant so much to me at a young age. I wish she was here to tell some more stories and give her wisdom.

It has been 16 years since the day you departed to become an Ancestor. It feels like last year. You were a classy woman full of life. Pulled no punches. Told you how it was and then some. A powerful personality that was never intimated and cursed you out when she felt like it. It was all out of love though. She loved big and hard. That is the way Leo’s love. You either learned to love her or just stayed away from her.

Growing up with her as my Grand Aunt allowed me to be Me. She taught me to be comfortable with me and how to stand up for myself. She didn’t care, like her or not. She had lost her sight by the time I was a teenager but that didn’t stop her from being “Fabolous”. She needed assistance from her husband but that didn’t stop her from looking well put together.

But I can’t help looking at this woman because it hurts my heart but it makes me think of you. She inspired me to write this. This woman is a shell but inside she carries herstory, wisdom, magic, power and love. This is what the elder women carry inside them. No books will ever replicate that. I just wish I still had my Grand Aunt here on Earth so that I can sit at her feet to hear her stories and ask her advice or what the recipe was for Turkey legs. With her passing she took this knowledge with her. Maybe I should pray tonight and call on her.

If you have any Elder women in your life appreciate them for they are Supreme and are magical.

I love you Auntie and I miss you Dearly.