I've not written here before about my aunt Shirley, which isn't surprising as I rarely write about my family here (they do know about this blog, after all). I bring her up today as she passed away yesterday, which wasn't unexpected but is still a little challenging to face as she was the last direct relative we had of that generation on my dad's side.

I don't have any specific fond memories to share (she never killed a rattlesnake as far as I know), but she did play a fairly important role in my life thanks to a Christmas present to all of us kids back when I was just starting school: a full set of the World Book Encyclopedia (with annual news and science supplements, too!).

As you can imagine, I spent a fair amount of time with the various volumes of the encyclopedia. I was especially fond of articles on countries, and enjoyed the section on human anatomy where you could peel back plastic pages to reveal the various systems and organs.

There are a number of other notable things I could discuss - her career as an educator, missed opportunities to get family history, the personality quirks that she shared with my dad and that seem to be coming for me - but I think the main thing, for me, is the role she played in fostering my love of reading and thirst for knowledge, trivial or not. And for that, I thank her.