Whoever said it never rains in Southern California...

This is an archived post from my old blog.

...obviously has never been there when I'm there.

The last time I went to visit my family in Southern California, it rained. It was a brief, and somewhat unplanned short trip almost two years ago...my plans to visit someone else fell through, so I took advantage of the long weekend and headed out to visit my family.

Today, I'm headed back to see them again, and once again, the forecast call for rain. I'd say that I'm cursed to bring them rain whenever I visit, but although once again unplanned, this trip isn't for the happiest of reasons.

I'm off to say goodbye to my aunt.

Summer vacations were spent with my aunt and uncle out in the San Fernando Valley. My mother's sister and her husband moved there from Back East in the fifties, raised a family there, and have a great little house that I always loved to visit. There were the trips to all the usual tourist traps...Disneyland, Universal Studios, Magic Mountain...and there were the quiet times we'd just spend around the house.

My uncle and I never seemed that close when I was younger, but my aunt and I could laugh and joke together quite easily. To this day, whenever she'd call the house to talk to Mum, I'd spend more time talking to her than Mum would...and then Mum would always joke, when I'd hand the phone to her, that it was finally her chance.

My aunt got sick about three months ago. They'd rushed her to the hospital, and couldn't figure out what was wrong. Turns out it was something from a long-past surgery that was causing the problem, and for a bit, it seemed like she was on the road to recovery.

Until Saturday night, that is. I got the call from my cousin that she'd taken a turn for the worst. The doctors gave her days...if we were lucky.

Plans were put into place. Arrangements were made in a hurry...finding a decent flight out West with minimal stops and layovers to tax my 80-year old kid...I mean, my mother. The family was notified, and while some couldn't fathom why my mother would want to, given her health, try to make the trip, I understood.

This is her baby sister. She's gotta be there. And I'll move Heaven and Earth to get them together. One last time.

One more trip out West. One more visit with my aunt. One more chance to tell her how much I love her.

And then say goodbye.