Jacks Chapter 7

TWENTY-SIX YEARS LATER, JACKS, AGE 73

MONICA AGE 50

   Watching people you love grow old is hard, but knowing my time with them is coming to an end is gut-wrenching.

  Watching Lenny get wrinkly and Monica's dark hair turn grey is like slow torture. When our aunts and uncle passed, it was natural all of them lived long, happy lives. But knowing Lenny will pass away and we won't is excruciating. She is the same age as us even though we only look twenty-five.

  When we found out Uncle Scott and Aunt Moira died together in bed while they slept, we had smiled through our tears. Neither of them had to live without the other, and they had seen all of their children grow old. Scott had been 96, and Aunt Moira had been 93. Beautiful ages to leave this world.

Even Aunt Simone, who had to live without Uncle Clint for so long, died peacefully with all of us