My great-uncle Joe Kokoszka died this week. He was married to my grandmother's youngest sister Mary for 60 years. My mother, also the youngest sister, was named after this aunt.
My grandmom is about to be ninety-three. Her three sisters range from 83 to 91. Her older brother died just shy of 92. They lost a brother in the Korean War when he was in his early twenties. They lost a brother to cancer when he was about 40.
The remaining five siblings' lives where and continue to be intertwined throughout their long lives. They took beach vacations together. They attended the weddings, showers, parties and funerals of each others children and grandchildren. They occasionally feuded or fought. None were big drinkers or smokers. None were teetotalers. They were neither athletes nor couch potatoes.
I don't know the secret to their longevity Perhaps it is the network of loved ones they created. Their long marriages and large, close-knit families.Perhaps it is their Catholic faith and simple, healthy lifestyles. Their ability to talk about loss, grief, happiness, politics, weather, music. Ability to accept life's pleasures with its pains.
My grandmother's spirit is sharp and strong. She speaks her mind and loves her life. She sings when she does the dishes. When she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins-Lymphoma at 80, she told the cancer that it was not going to get her.
This is my idea of a successful, happy life. May we all be so lucky.
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