another angel gets her wings

"aunt: a cherish friend and personal cheerleader

that will always see you through rose colored glasses"

(unknown)

early this morning we lost my beloved auntie doreen.

my mom and my auntie carolyn lost their sister.

all of us kids lost our aunt.

my cousins lost their mom and their kids lost their grandma. 

and the losses in our immediate and extended family and her friends go on and on. a lot of people are broken hearted tonight. that i know for sure.

she went into the hospital last night, i could hardly sleep all night, and when i got the call from my mom early this morning in the darkness, i knew she was gone as soon as my phone started to ring. 

so my day was spent at home with my tears and my memories and many calls and texts back and forth with my family. i am fighting this cold still and do not want to risk getting anyone sick or myself sicker before i have treatment on wednesday. 

i could never count the memories i have with her. so many of them filled with her laughter. 

oh her laughter. it was one of the best i have ever heard.

this picture is from just a few weeks ago when we went to see her for christmas. this would be the last time we would see her without any of us knowing it.

i am so thankful that we took this last picture with her, you can see her smiling and starting to laugh because we had to take it a couple of times to actually get her to look in the right spot;)

she was one of my most favorite and treasured women on this planet, and always will be for all my days to come.

she leaves the pieces of my heart clinking around in the bottom of my feet. truth be told they haven't really come back together at all since we lost my grandma and greta put down her boxing gloves.

i like to think that tonight they are all having a good laugh together and sending all of us a bunch of love.

i don't know why our family has to go through so much pain in such a short time. 

but i know that we have some pretty great angels watching over us.

and for that, and for all of my memories with them, i am beyond thankful.

i love you auntie doreen to the moon and back again. i am so glad that malena and barrett got to love you too.

they too get to be some of the lucky ones who were loved by you.

lucky, lucky us.

what a special and honored club to be in.

xoxoxo