I have kept this card for several days now, most of a month. It is sad. Aunt Ruth passed from this world in March of 2019. She was the last of Joe and Adelaide Dwenger’s five children. Margaret, Virginia, Robert, Jean, Ruth was the last.

It is sad that Ruth died. I did not visit her during the last years of her life. Several times during the last years of Mom’s life I asked her if she wanted to talk to her sister. Ruth was in some sort assisted living arrangement in New Mexico at the time. Later she moved to Colorado near her daughter Susan. Mom was not interested. Not interested that day or ever — I am not sure what she meant when she said no.

Sad for a different reason. Some families scatter to the wind chasing jobs, ambitions, spouses and life. They lose touch with each other. There is in some cultures the thought that cousins and siblings have a built in friendship and closeness. Sadly this is not always true.

Some families have developed a disconnect, a nonchalant attitude toward connection. Some others developed a feeling akin to hatred early and split soon after. Some children lose connection with their parents and through that lose connection with their siblings. However it happens, they split and connection is gone.

Family ties are not as strong as many perceive. Perhaps if they were technology would not be as advanced as it is. Maybe there would be no Facebook, no Snapchat, no TicToc, no social media. Perhaps that would be a good thing. Or not.