Since all I've been doing is asking for your prayers lately, I might as well continue.

My mom's favorite aunt, Anne Lichtfuss, died this past Monday. Her funeral Mass will be tomorrow. Aunt Anne was married to my grandmother's youngest brother, George, so she was the last of that generation to pass on. She would have been 93 this coming January.

I didn't know Aunt Anne very well -- I remember visiting her when I was quite young, sometime after her George had lost the farm and they moved into town. The next time I saw her was shortly after my grandmother's first stroke, and the only other time was at my grandmother's funeral in 1998. Aunt Anne had been like a second mother to my own mom. Since my grandmother worked, my mom went to boarding school most of the year but summered on the family farm near Janesville, Wisconsin. If I remember right, it was the last hand-operated dairy farm in the entire state of Wisconsin when George finally invested in automation sometime during the 70s. But it was too late for him by then, and he was never able to make up for lost time.

What little I know about Aunt Anne was that she was a very joyful woman, quick to smile and quick to laugh. She plied my husband and I with cookies and other sweets when we saw her last and shared a couple of family stories with me. Sure wish I would have had time to learn more from her -- family history has always interested me.

Anyway, if you would be so kind as to pray for the peaceful repose of her soul, I would be very grateful.

--Sparki