A Fitting Tribute

Beginnings and endings are part of life. We’ve had our share of them during the past few months.

The year started off with an addition to our family.

Those close to me know my aunty Christine Lawson Easwaran passed away last August at the wonderful old age of 101.

Christine and her two younger sisters, Anne and Nancy, grew up in the small hamlet of White Stone in the Northern Neck Region of Virginia. The Lawsons were prominent members of the community. (In a coincidence too profound to comprehend my in-laws, Walter and Betty Klein, retired to White Stone in the early 1990s). We spent some memorable summers with them.

There aren’t too many Lawsons left in White Stone, and it seemed like the family name was destined to vanish. Until my grandson Lawson Finn Klein was born. Now the Lawson name lives on in this newest member of our family. I know my aunty Christine would have been pleased to meet this feisty little Lawson who bears her family name.

Even though I didn’t get to spend much time with my aunty during the past two years, I have many sublime memories of her that I will cherish for the rest of my life. After all our relationship began when I was six months old and for the last 60 -odd years, our connection has only grown deeper. Truly for us, death is not the end.

In the coming years, I look forward to telling young Lawson all about his great-great-aunty Christine and her two sisters. We’ll keep aunty Christine’s memory alive with tales of her love for southern literature, decadent chocolate desserts and long walks. Aunty loved to listen to my stories, and I hope Lawson will too.

Sharing anecdotes about aunty will keep her memory alive for another generation. And that is truly a fitting tribute to a special woman.