Prayer for Aunt Oz

Please send her a message for I know she is there,
She was my great-Aunt Oz and I knew she would always care.

Please tell her I love her and miss her a lot,
For the love she gave me I have always sought.

To love like she loved,
To give like she gave,
To anyone this would be such a privilege.

Because, Aunt Oz, she loved everyone,
And for her it seemed easily done.

She did not have a daughter or son,
But nieces and nephews were always there to come.

Even though she lived far far away,
A short little stay always made my day.

Together we would eat movie mix,
Because that’s what she always picks.

She had the whole collection of Shirley Temple tapes,
My favorite was the one that included the apes.

One memory of her started when I was seven,
And now my collection has grown to eleven.

It started when I was very young,
I would admire her dolls whenever I would come.

Until one day she gave me one of my own,
And ever since, the porcelain dolls have grown.

When I get older I would like to dance,
Or even work in an ambulance.

Which is just like her, ‘cuz she was a nurse,
And that’s what always inspired me most.

Together we would always make the bed
And this is what she always said:

“Tuck at the end to make a perfect square,
Then the two beds will truly be a pair!”

One time when we were sitting on the mat,|
She suddenly gave my foot a pat…

She said, “Look here Stephy on you and me,
We both have the same crooked toes,

And look! The exact same nose!”

Then one day I PROMISED I would come back,
But that night I prayed that you would make me slack.

Because that day when I saw her face,
I knew with you was the only place.

For Aunt Oz loved EVERYONE and gave all she had,
And how her life ended really made me mad.

She did not deserve it,
She had never earned it.
But what I learned from it:

Was that for everyone there is a time,
And someday it would be mine.

‘Cuz even though the cancer took away her outside beauty,
Inside, she was just the same old cutie.

So as I am talking to you today,
What I truly pray:

Is that everyone will have their own Aunt Oz
Who is loving, giving, generous and cozy.

Stephanie Jane Ward
March, 2003