It’s crazy having someone in your life pass away while you are on the other side of the world. Part of you wants to ignore it and pretend it never happened while the other part of you feels guilt for not wanting to ball your eyes out. I don’t want to ignore it, try to hid or mask the pain that comes from losing someone you love but I also don’t want death to be something sad. I want to celebrate the incredible gift of life we have been given, and celebrate the beauty of the people we care about the most. So I took some time to reflect on the incredible person my aunt was and the parts of her life that I want to incorporate in my life more.
Hopefully for you this isn’t just stories of my aunt, but a reminder for each and everyone of us that life is short, that we are not promised tomorrow, and that this life was meant to be lived!
1. Laugh More- My Aunt Tammy was one of those people who could be telling a story about her trip to the grocery story and have the entire room dying of laughter. She was a woman who wasn’t afraid of laughing at herself, or the other ridiculous things my family does. Laughter is something that brings joy into you life. Laughter makes even the hardest situations enjoyable. I want even my trips to the grocery stores to include as much joy as Aunt Tammy would bring with her stories.
2. Love Deeper- We come from this big crazy Mexican family- the kind of family the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding depicts. We are loud, outgoing, bold, and a little in your face. It’s easy to forget how special this in when it’s all you know. But no matter how annoying, crazy, embarrassing our family may be, we sure know how to love the hell out of each other. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’ve done, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I can call up anyone of those fools and there will be there for me in an instance. Life may pass away, but blood is forever. I want to remember to treasure this deep love we have for each other and choose to continue to love people who aren’t blood with that same kind of deep love.
3. Forgive Quickly- Coming from this crazy family it is easy to piss each other off. It’s easy to get on each other’s nerves and many times stay annoyed at that person to prove a point. But as we see from Aunt Tammy’s death, you’re not promised tomorrow. You’re not promised that next conversation or that reconciliation. All you are promised is today, so don’t let today end without saying all that truly needs to be said. Don’t let today end with you being mad about the past. Let each morning be a new beginning for you and the people around you.
4. Make Today Count- My Aunt still had many more years to live. She has a son and a husband who still need her. She has a brother and sister who still want her. She has a huge family who loves her so deeply. But here we are getting things ready for her funeral. Our life here on earth is a short one, the Bible describes it as just a vapor. We get so caught up in our jobs, our obligations, or trying to present ourselves in a way the “looks good”. But at the end of your time here on earth does any of that really matter. I am not here thinking about how far Aunt Tammy made it in her job, weather she graduated college or not, or if she was a “Good Christian”. No, here at the end of her life I am think about how she made me feel. I am thinking about how my last conversation with her before I left was her telling me “Katelyn you are going to make this family proud. You are going to go out and change this world. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Go show this world what this Earhart blood is made of.”
Each of us have a choose to live life or just let it pass us by. We have a chance to use our lives to build up the people around us or just let people continue being what they have always been. You have the opportunity to influence the people in your life, the people you care the most about… are you actually living life or just letting these opportunities pass you by? I hope that my Aunt Tammy’s life reminds you to make the most of the life you have been given. Laugh more, love deeper, forgive quicker, and make today count!
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” -C. S. Lewis
