When I was a little girl, the arrival of Aunt J was something of an adventure. She lived in Arizona which as far as I was concerned was this exotic location about as far away as you could get, and she was a nurse with a million interesting stories to tell. And of course she would always come bearing two extremely large suitcases generally filled with gifts.
One suitcase came with Coor's beer that at the time couldn't be bought east of the Rockies the other had toys and costumes and jewelry that my sisters and I could play with.
She was this larger than life woman who always seemed to have a smile on her face from the moment she got off the plane.
When she came back to Kentucky to live out the end of her life, she was still spunky even during the times her illness took over. She was a force. Her life had not been an easy one and yet, she rarely seemed to let it get her down.
When she died in October, it was a very sad and painful thing for me, but it was also something I was completely okay with. She had been ready.
While she gave me a lot of wonderful material gifts (many of them hand made), she also gave me a lot of of other spiritual gifts as well. And for all of those I am thankful.
I can never thank Aunt J enough for her complete honesty about life and death. She never tried to hide how serious things were in her illness or the situation of family members, always feeling like if we were informed we would be more able to deal with whatever came our way. But it wasn't only in matters of illness where here honesty was apparent, it we how she lived her life, completely honest with herself and everyone else about what was going on. Her ability to live honestly and with honesty has been a huge inspiration in my life.
I can never thank her enough for her stories. She was full of interesting stories and tales from her life growing up in the mountains to her time at school, to her tales as a nurse in Arizona. She could weave a story and fill it with such passion and energy that I desperately wanted to know more. Her story telling is one of the things I miss the most.
Her love of the fur babies is nothing short of amazing. She would light up around animals, dogs especially. I found her joy at the site of my dogs and her love of her dogs to be something I wanted to share in.
From her I learned some wonderful baking tricks. And as she became less and less able to bake, I started finding myself wanting to do it more and more. I wish I had taken the opportunity to learn more from her. She did however leave me with the gift of not only enjoying the ingesting of baked goods, but the making of them as well.
From her I learned the delight of the homemade gift. I find that I am all thumbs at most decorative craft work, but I love the time spent under one of her afghans or seeing the decorations she has made out in our home. While I have yet to incorporate the homemade gift into my giving scheme, it is something I hope to move toward more and more. There is something meaningful to me about the time spent in making gifts.
From her I learned courage. Even when things looked grim, she was always fighting her way through. She faced each new turn of events as something to be faced, not something to be feared. I know she was scared, she would sometimes admit that, but fear doesn't diminish courage. Her courage spoke volumes, and it was an important lesson for me to learn.
From her I learned that anything is possible. She had been given six months to live and she lived another 13 years. Love and finding your roots can extend your life, literally and not only did she lived she had a life. In the moments when I am down, I remember that she exceeded all expectations and so can I.
Her love of life, her courage, her heart and her laugh are things that I miss everyday, but I am grateful, that I had Aunt J in my life. She was an amazing teacher.
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