An uncomplicated relationship

My husband's aunt, a survivor of both breast cancer and an anxious past, was open, gregarious, and a lover of laughter by the time I met her. Family, yet apart enough to avoid the layers, tangles, and history of those relationships, we could just be, in a constant state of enjoyment. As is too often the case, the final two years of her life were beset with ailments, hospital stays, pain, and, finally, unbearable fatigue as she relinquished her fierce will. During one stint of confinement, her sister sent this azalea. It survives them both. Not hardy, it winters in the house, summers on the decaying deck, and, every February, warms me with memories of my showy, elegant friend.