When she left me and the kids in around 92-93 for her beloved Texas I did not see her again except for 3 brief times, once in 1995 she stopped by for Juli to take her camping in the Smokies, her only time to come back and see Juli. After Juli’s kidney failure and surgeries in 1997 she came for a 3-day visit with Juli about 2 or 3 weeks before Juli died. Then she came to the funeral with Jason at my urging, with me of course paying to fly them both here from Texas. Then she made a fool of herself trying to discredit me during the funeral visitation. I was so embarrassed by her behavior before and during the funeral.
We otherwise did not communicate and I knew nothing of her cancer beyond Jason telling me in early August of 2016 that she had cancer and her days might be numbered. Jason called me one day later telling me that his mother’s palliative care nurse called to say that she only had days to live and if he wanted to see her again before she died, he must come now.
Of course he had no money to travel, usually not working. I bought him an airline ticket and wired him some cash for the trip. There was an awkwardness for Jason, as a transsexual with a female name (Athena), going to tough-guy Texas. But I guess by then he was used to dealing with people not accepting him/her.
He stayed with her nearly a week before Ginger died August 11, 2016. He worked with his Mom’s friend/roommate to empty an apartment, get rid of all her stuff with him shipping scrapbooks and a few other memorabilia to himself in North Carolina. I was pleased that he handled everything himself without me having to go to Gatesville, TX from Costa Rica!
I wrote two blog posts related to the above events. Links to the blog posts:
Those two blog posts shared about as much of my feelings as I could at the time and I guess really want to now. As I continue to build these family pages I am sure to tell more and express more of my feelings.
In one sense, her death was a big relief because I never knew when she was going to dump something horrible on me. She was mean and vindictive to many people, not just me. As I finish the family biography I will probably share more of the truth about Ginger, as hard as it is.
She was cremated and Jason took her ashes back to North Carolina to spread on some mountaintop. I know of no funeral or other service, just Jason saying goodbye to his Mom. I’ve never seen an obituary or anything else like that which is not like Jason to do or share. She had alienated all of her family in Texas that was left, just cousins and maybe an aunt or two still, and a half-brother she never related to. So I doubt family did anything in her memory. Her sister and parents (both sets of parents) had died earlier. A once beautiful and creative person became a very boisterous and demanding voice that just faded away, all alone, into a Texas sunset.
Sad.
