It makes sense, but does it make it right?

It was the first time that we made contact with my aunt since my uncle died. My older sister called my aunt to see how she and the kids were doing. As expected, she was living one day at a time, trying to keep her kids' schedules running as usual with their dance classes. They got into the topic of the cause of my uncle's death, and my aunt blamed it on his bad diet. (She says that the doctors don't know what caused his death.) My sister countered that many people eat fast food and don't result in massive organ failure. To tie up the conversation, my sister said that my uncle was a good person who loved his wife and daughters. But the conversation didn't end there. My aunt went on a tirade. The truth came out.

She said that my uncle may seem like a nice guy on the outside, but that was far from what she experienced. They argued a lot. Apparently, he went to Vietnam...more than once...without her or the family. We all knew he had to go to Singapore for work, but we never knew about Vietnam. The day after my grandma's funeral, my uncle arrived home, supposedly from Singapore. But my aunt saw his tickets and they indicated that he came from Vietnam. She didn't mention anything because she didn't want to fight. As far as I know, planes departing Singapore don't make layovers in Vietnam. She continued to antagonize my uncle's character, saying that his death was probably caused by him traveling to Vietnam, implying he engaged in adulterous acts. Ask my cousins, she insisted, they know the truth.

The news came as a shock to my sisters and I. We were done mourning his death but now we had to grasp the unbelievable allegations made against him. Allegations that were probably true. In retrospect, it all made sense: my uncle's wife unemotional sense of detachment towards my dying uncle, barely at his deathbed, never physically reaching out to hold his hand; and my younger cousin's absence from the ICU the night I first visited him in San Pablo (she was at a dance competition). Is it possible that my cousins were mad at their father for what he did to their mother? Is it possible that my aunt didn't care whether or not the doctors put in extra effort to keep my uncle well? Is it possible that she didn't care whether he lived or survived?

My aunt says that she misses him sometimes. It must be hard without him even if they had their marital problems. But I can't help but think that she is still holding a grudge against him, that his death was justified. She divulged her feelings to us. I hope that she is free of anger and bitterness against my uncle. I just want to remember him as a good person.