110. Aunt Emily

“Do you still remember my mother?” Patrick asked at one point.

“Yes. I have a few memories of her.”

"I don’t, at least most of it. As the years pass by, I remember less and less and it scares me." He added after a moment of hesitation.

Jo thought for a while. To be honest, she didn’t remember much either; just pictures or snippets of events, sometimes completely out of context. She didn’t know her aunt well as she was also only a kid then.

What she remembered more from her childhood was that she had to look after not only her younger sister Lily, but also after Patrick and his younger brother Samuel.

Indeed, she understood that they had lost their mother, and their father could not cope with both, the loss of her and the care of two young children, but she was only a little girl back then.

She wanted to grow up as quickly as possible to free herself from all ‘these’ obligations. Jo didn't like the feeling of being a big sister at all. She didn't want to tell him about it now, so as