Friday, May 27, 2016
I will always miss Shirley. We did not see each other often as we got older but I knew she was there, and above all, that she cared, a loyal friend and cousin. She was with me the night I met my husband and, actually, had she not been, I might nor have met him as it was her idea to go to the particular venue where he walked in just as we did. I remember how she did my hair (bouffant style) for our first date. She would often comment on some of the family having certain (usually favourable) Hughes characteristics...she would laugh and say, "That's the Hughes in her/him". A reminder of all we had in common: our fathers - five brothers, our shared grandparents and one aunt who loved us all, and after whom Shirley was named, Shirley Estella. I felt the family bond then and now. Rest in peace, dear cousin.