The following letter is my Christmas present to you.
Ever since I met you, you have been my hero. Even before you married Uncle John (which, by the way, was a great choice) I had a tremendous amount of respect for you. You were so nice when we first met you. I distinctly remember calling you Aunt Wendy and feeling so embarrassed because obviously, you weren’t my aunt yet. But then later that night, all of the cousins were talking and everyone said the same thing: “she’ll be our aunt one day.”
And then you were. I remember being so nervous when you guys got married. Standing up there in my red + mango ensemble, I was so scared because I didn’t want to mess the wedding up, but it was perfect. I remember being so happy when you, Jenn, Anna, Rebekah, and me got up and sang a karaoke rendition of ‘I Will Survive.’ Little did I know what an omen that was.
When we found out you had cancer, we were in the car. I don’t remember where we were, but mom and dad got the call from uncle John and they were very concerned. I kept asking what was wrong and when we got home, they sat us down and told us that you had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Both Aaron and I cried. They explained to us that your sister had it as well and that we had to show you lots of love in the coming year.
I don’t know if you remember, but we sent you a care package with a big ol’ stuffed monkey in it when you were going through chemo. Aaron picked it out.
Anyway, when I was in fifth grade, just after the two of you got married, I wrote a little paragraph about ‘My Hero’ and I wrote about you. It was real quality work filled with such literary gold like ‘I like my Aunt Wendy because she is nice and she is married to my uncle and she loves him and I love him, too.’ Later, when I was a freshman in high school, I had to write another essay on my hero, and it was still you. That essay, while better than the one I wrote in fifth grade, was still not good, so this is my next attempt, four years later.
You really are one of the best people I have ever known. You are so strong. I mean, to endure and survive what you have endured and survived and still come out as happy and as loving as you are blows my mind. To lose your father, your sister, your dog and maintain a faith in your husband and in God inspires me to be stronger. It inspires me to push through the tough stuff (of course, ‘tough stuff’ for me is completely different than what you went through) and to cherish everything I have every single day. I look at you, a person who is still able to laugh with her friends, still able to have fun with her husband, and still able reminisce on the good times with her relatives who have passed on, and it is beautiful.
You are such a beautiful person inside and out. You are so patient and kind and I know you have my back. Everyone in this family is so grateful that you have come into our lives. You never fail to make me laugh until I pee my pants. You truly light up a room with your stories and your jokes and your smile. I am so lucky to know you and I am so lucky to be able to call you my aunt. There is truly no better hero in my life than you. You embody all of the qualities of an idol: strong, determined, honest, and faithful. And I love you so much.
andulkaphoto
titsay
stormborns
germansingergirl
2087
yousharknotpass
