Conversations with my aunt

Sleepless again tonight. I sit here thinking about a conversation I had with my aunt today. We had been looking at this photo of my dad, my aunt and their baby sister. I knew that the man and woman in the photo were my great grandparents, Billy and Sarah Saxton. Aunt Vesta began to talk about them. She told me that they had been old, as long as she could remember. They were good people. If you were in trouble, if you needed help, you would turn to Billy and Sarah. They had six children, I believe. Oliver, Edith, Russell, William and two sons that we didn't name in our chat. Perhaps my great grandparents appeared old because of the life they were dealt. The two sons who I don't know their names both drown at age 15. How horribly sad. We didn't discuss details, those will come later. Bil and Sarah's home burned. And about three years after this photo was taken, their 32 year old son, and father of these 3 little ones would die after complications from an appendectomy. She spoke calmly, reciting the details like a well known story. After he died, my grandmother and her three small children moved in with grandparents for a little while. Then Grandpa Will's life insurance was paid, and with the one thousand dollars, his young widow paid for his funeral and then bought the home she would raise her children in, and live in the rest of her life. I will never look at this photo the same way again. I see the pain etched on Grandma Sarah's face, and I will always hear Aunt Vesta's words "they were good people."