***Dedicated to Jane Gubler. RIP Aunt Jane; 1948-1998.***

Blood is thicker than water
They say
But sometimes
Someone enters your life
For just a little while
And changes it forever

A woman
My mom's friend
Who was a classy
Dignified
Human being

I grew to love
As if she was my own
Flesh and blood
Her kindness
True affection towards me

Made me feel like I belonged
Unlike in the circle of my own
Extended family
I was always treated like
An outsider

She was just Jane
Or
Tyotya Zhenya
In Russian

Until something happened
Where she allowed me to be her
Relative so I can swim in
The complex pool

At first it was just pretend
Her being
"Aunt" Jane
But then I started
To feel her warmth and caring
Towards me

I hoped she would be part of our family
Forever and ever
But sadly it wasn't to be

She got ill
Doctors were lazy
The cancer had spread
Beyond control
By the time they found it

The last time I saw her alive
The image I knew
Would haunt me forever

Gone was the shy
Smiling
Happy woman
And instead
There was this green
Skeleton
Full of pain

She transitioned only
Days later
I cried like a baby
And in a way I was

It was 1998
I was in my freshman year
And only 14 years old
It was the first major death
Of a loved one

Attending her funeral, I made a vow
She would always be my
"Aunt" Jane
I created a star for her
And donated to a research website

I've visited her vessel's resting place
Many times and continue to
I've brought rocks to put on her
Tombstone from all over the world

I know her soul is watching over her
Own daughter
But when I talk to her at the cemetery
The wind blows just a little harder
So I know she hears me

G-d took her home
Just shy of her 50th birthday
But this woman
Who will forever be
The only true aunt for me

Her soul is no longer stuck
There is no more pain
She is where she should be
And I say this
Forevermore

I love you, Aunt Jane