Two weeks ago Chris' Aunt Denise passed away. She had been living with and battling Cancer for several years, so I guess you can say thankfully she doesn't have to suffer through that any more. I also want to say that she will be missed. Aunt Denise was not my Aunt, only an Aunt by marriage, but I really did love her like she was my family. She was a very thoughtful lady and from the very first time I met her - 19 years ago - she was always very kind to me and very giving.
One of the things I will remember most about Aunt Denise was her love of reminiscing and telling stories. When Chris and I were dating, we would go visit her and spend hours just talking. She loved her family and loved to share stories about them and spend time with them. Another thing I will always remember was her desire to find just the perfect thing to make you happy. Aunt Denise was an antique collector and seller, and she would listen to you and find out all that you liked and then she would find treasures for you. My house is filled with books, dishes, pictures, teapots, kitchen utensils and other trinkets that she found just for me or Chris or my kids. When Chris and I moved to Ohio we were blessed to be closer to her and the family back here in the East that we rarely got to see. Despite her cancer, Aunt Denise decided she was going to visit us, and she came and stayed with us for a week for Trevor's first birthday in Ohio. Although she was coming from Pennsylvania - which is only one state away from Ohio - it took her 2 days to drive it because of how weak she was from the Cancer. I remember being somewhat shocked at her appearance because she had lost her hair and it was growing back. It was funny because she was concerned that we not be uncomfortable around her due to her hair and wanted to know if we wanted her to wear a hat or a wig around the house. We had such a great time with her. She and I took one day of Antique shopping - she found so many treasures for me - it was a blast!!! We also took one day and drove up to Cleveland and drove along the coast of Lake Erie and then stopped and had lunch. I was, and still am, a very poor navigator, and Denise held the map that day (this was before I received my GPS) and navigated us through Cleveland and then home again. My favorite part of this visit was Trevor's birthday party. Trevor was born a week before Halloween, so we have always had costume parties for him. Aunt Denise knew this and prepared for her visit - she dressed up as a Scarecrow and helped to hand out candy with Chris that year.
A year later, we drove to Pennsylvania for Easter. We left our Easter baskets at Aunt Denise's house because the kids were worried that the Easter Bunny wouldn't be able to get to us in a hotel. We made the right decision because when we arrived the next morning the baskets were full and there were eggs hidden all over Aunt Denise's house. Aunt Denise's dog, Kayle, had a blast looking for eggs with the kids. That same year, we went to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving. Aunt Denise usually got very nervous having a lot of people to entertain, but that year, she was amazing!!! She had everyone over to her house, the night after Thanksgiving, and cooked for everyone. It was a great Thanksgiving!!!
Last weekend my sister-in-law Hope, her daughters Jade and Grace, and her foster child Layla came and stayed with us. We all drove up to Wyckoff, NJ together to attend the Memorial service for Aunt Denise. As we were all sitting around having lunch afterwards I kept looking around expecting to see Aunt Denise. It was weird to see all the family and friends gathered together without her. I am going to miss seeing her face and hearing her stories at family gatherings. She would have been happy to see all her family and friends together telling stories and spending time together. I know we were thrilled to be able to spend time with Hope and her girls. I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I did get some cute ones of the twins playing with Jade and Grace...
