Lessons learned

Yesterday afternoon, my husband's family suffered a tragedy. Almost a year after our beloved Boppa died, his daughter Deanne, my husband's aunt, died of complications from breast cancer. Deanne has been suffering with this wretched disease for over seven years and she has fought such a valiant fight. Even though Deanne was not technically my aunt, I still feel like she was. When Boppa died, it was like my own grandpa had passed on. And I feel the same way about Deanne. Oh, what a wonderful, loving family I became a part of when I married my husband!

Deanne took great care to love my kids as if they were her own grandkids. Often she would say, "I bought this (some small toy) for my grandkids, so I bought it for your kids as well." How I appreciated the love and care she always showed my family.One of the greatest things I learned from Deanne was to not sweat the little things. Too often, my tendency toward OCD kicks in and I care far too much about the messes and inconveniences caused by life. Whenever my kids would play at Deanne's house and make a big mess (perhaps riding big wheels through her kitchen), she would always say, "It really doesn't matter." What a wonderful perspective on life!

Yesterday, just a little while after we learned about Deanne's death, I heard S say, "Uh oh! Mom, I'm sorry!" I ran into the kitchen and saw that she had spilled some crackers on the floor. As she was apologizing, I thought of Deanne and said, "Don't worry, sweetie. They're only crackers." And it was so true. Only crackers. Nothing important.

Last night, it was S's turn to say family prayer. During her prayer, she sweetly said, "Please tell Deanne that we miss her."

And we do. We really, really do.