The World Lost Another Precious Light...

 

Hi...

This one is going to be personal. 

In the early hours of the morning that celebrates Moms, the first person to make me an Auntie, left us. It wasn't without a valiant fight. She did everything humanly possible to stay as long as she possibly could. She did it with such incredible strength, positivity, and humour that it made us, each of us, I think, at one point or another, hope that she just might win the war, even if the battles along the way were brutal.

She started posting her 'hat of the day' photos, of which I've put my favourite at the top of these ramblings. 

She loved cozying up with a good book, a cup of tea, and whichever pet might curl up in her lap. She loved her husband and her boys fiercely, she was the big sister of all big sisters, and simply a fantastic human. 

She barely got to taste what her fifties might bring, which is incredibly unfair, but she lived broadly while she was here. She made deep deposits into the memory banks of all who knew and loved her, from which we will all be able to draw as long as we are here. 

She created a safe space for everyone our society insists on marginalizing. defending that space, not without personal sacrifice. 

Was she perfect? She would be the first to laugh at that one. No, not perfect, but she walked this earth, each day trying to be the best human she could be that day. To me, that's better than most us. 

Even when the battle is long, the end always shocks the system. You do what you can to prepare your heart for what you have to accept is coming, but that doesn't lessen the feeling of loss. The battle affords the time to make sure nothing gets left unsaid, that ending wishes, no matter how big or small, can be fulfilled. 

But... it still feels like she, her husband, boys, family, and friends, all of us, were robbed of all that her incredible light might have brought to the world if she just had been given more time. 

Stephanie,

You will be missed, having touched more lives than you realize, in ways none of us will probably ever know. 

How do I know this? Because nobody walks the earth the way you have done without leaving a beautiful footprint that has the power to echo beyond the horizon of what you can see.

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May you fly into your Dad's waiting arms, leaving every pain behind.

May you know you've left the best pieces of yourself here in your boys; they had you to guide.

May you know that those of us still here will honour you by living our lives as broadly as you would encourage us to.

May you know we will not take the privilege of walking this earth for granted, we'll enjoy the food, see the places, experience the things, not just dream.... do. 

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