Jean Sunderland Belangie

My mother has only one sibling, a sister.  My Aunt Jean.  She is older than my mother, by like two years, I think.  When my mother came over to the United States from England, it was after she and her sister and parents had all been baptized into the church.  The rest of the family came a few years later.
My Aunt Jean married a man named John Sunderland, who was also from England.  For this reason, she kept her British accent, of which we ALL loved.  I wished for the longest time that my mother still had her British accent instead of only the occasional British word or phrase that she would share with us.  I loved listening to Aunt Jean.
But I didn't know her well, or the four (?) cousins that I had from her - Chris, Melanie, Peter and I think there was one more boy...but can I remember his name of even if there was one more?  No.
See, Aunt Jean didn't remain active in the church and neither did her children.  For this reason, my mother really found herself with not very much in common anymore with her sister and so we didn't see them much or get to know them very well at all.  I would have thought that the mere fact that they were sisters, would have kept my mother interested in the life of her own sister.  But you now what?  Now that I find my self in my own situation with my siblings, I can understand the lack of interest in the lives of some of them.  I understand all too well.
The few times that I DID see Aunt Jean, I really liked her.  I learned that she loved to water color paint and I showed a lot of interest in some of her work.  Because of that, I have the painting up above that hangs in one of my bathrooms in my new home.  It's beautiful.  And I'm grateful that she painted it for me.
She and I used to exchange Christmas letters too until just recently.  I'm not sure why we ever stopped, but e did.
Last week, my mother, along with my cousin Chris, went to see Aunt Jean in Washington, as she was in poor health.  My mother said she had a wonderful visit with her and that Aunt Jean was actually able to recognize my mother as her sister, even though they had not seen each other in years.  Friday, my Aunt Jean passed away, days after my mother had returned home.
Although Aunt Jean had been inactive in the church, she was still such a good and interesting person and had done so much in her life for so many people.  I would have loved to have had the opportunity to talk to her at length to hear HER life story - She would have been fascinating to listen to and know better.
My mother has lost her husband and only sibling this year.  I imagine that to be fairly difficult.
Rest in Peace Aunt Jean....and be ready to tell me all about you when we see each other again.