Happy Winter Solstice

This was an unforgettable winter solstice for me. The centenarian in our family passed away peacefully in her sleep at dawn.

At 103, it was considered a joyous funeral...

Poor me—I was at school and couldn't even see her one last time. I vaguely remembered how she used to like me so much, always saying I was the best child in the whole world.

Even though she kept forgetting who I was, asking again and again who I was, once she learned I was that little one she knew, she would still look at me with affection...