Shirley Ryan

(If bad language offends you, don't read on. I won't apologize for it, but I wanted to warn you.)

Sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning, my Crazy Aunt Shirley passed away. Her daughter Laurie found her on the floor in her house on Friday.

The first step you're taught in a family history course is to start with what you know. Here is what I know about Shirley Ryan:

We called her Crazy Aunt Shirley to distinguish her from my dad's sister, our Aunt Shirley. When she found out, she was proud of it and said it was so much better than being called "Great Aunt" Shirley, which made her feel so old - at least crazy has character! :) She always had a cigarette in one hand and alcohol in the other. She had triple bypass sometime before her 50's and we were sure that tough old bird would live to be 100, despite her bad habits and genetic predispositions. She was in her 80's is all I know - I'd have to look up what year she was born to know exactly. Still pretty dang good. Or Damn good, as she would have said.

She had a bit more colorful language than myself, but didn't consider damn, shit, hell, or son of a bitch to be bad words - just part of language. If you were greeted as a son of a bitch, you knew she was fond of you. :) Shirley was very into astrology. Something she might have said would be "Oh course he did! He's a Leo and Leo's are full of shit!" She was actually usually pretty accurate.

She worked for the phone company and never did remember that long distance on cell phones costs just as much as local calls. She had a deep voice and as a child I often mistook her on the phone for a man.

She was so colorful and so caring! She always had big, dark hair, heavy makeup and bright, loud clothes. To some she probably looked like a man dressed as a woman. But she was just tall and fun and - well, crazy. :) There's a reason we called her Crazy Aunt Shirley.

She always had dogs. She was a sucker for a dog. Loved many over the years, big and small, just like children. I remember trying to take her 2 pussy-cat dobermans on a walk and getting pulled up and down the road at a run.

Everybody was "Honey" to her, like people use "Sweetheart" out here in the South. She always sent my mom beautiful flowers for her birthday.

I'm really glad Chad had a chance to know her. She was such a neat person and will be missed terribly. I know she's with her daughter and her parents and her brother, who all passed on before her. And it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Bro. Evans and Grandma Burton were both teaching her the gospel.

We love you, Crazy Aunt Shirley. Take care.