Saying Goodbye to 2 Aunts

This week I lost 2 aunts – my paternal grandmother’s sister, Aunt Marilyn, and my dad Kent’s sister, Sharon.

Sharon had battle ovarian cancer for the past few years and was meet at heaven’s gates by her Savior and her parents on Thursday morning. Growing up, I remember going to Sharon and Joe’s every Christmas Eve. This is where I learned the tradition of tamales. Another favorite memory are the weekends we spent in Bellville where Sharon and her friend Connie would take me with them antique shopping and silver jewelry shopping. I still have a pair of silver loop earrings I bought while shopping with my mom and Sharon that remind me of her every time I wear them. Kent did a wonderful job at the memorial with the scripture readings. God knows the plans he has for us and as Kent shared at the memorial. God puts us on high peaks and in low valleys, but He does not send us alone, He is with us, and Sharon was with her Saviors through this battle, as well as her husband, friends and family. And Joe, Sharon’s husband, has an amazing testimony that if it had not been for Sharon fighting this battle, that he would not be saved and would not spend forever with her in heaven.

My Aunt Marilyn was a surprise for me. She lived in New York but I have great memories of Marilyn also. When I had a college genealogy project, I soon became hooked on researching my family’s histories. In 2002 when my grandmother passed, Richard and I drove to the airport to pick up Marilyn and had a great opportunity to visit. We started sharing genealogy stories and immediately knew we wanted to share our research with one another. During the time when family was visiting for my grandmother's funeral, Marilyn and I debated on who would get to take which picture from her albums to match up to people in our research. When Marilyn returned to New York, we emailed back and forth on a weekly basis, shared new research and grew our relationship. After I married and had kids, life got busy and my research drastically slowed down. A couple of years back, Marilyn sent me her updated research. Even though our contact slowed down we still had a connection of learning about our families. As sad as I was to get the news from my dad that she had passed, I hope her family realizes how important this project we did together was/is and I can get a copy of any new research she has done in her last years.

As we celebrated these women’s lives this week, there was an even bigger celebration as Jesus welcomed two more of His into heaven this week. We love you and will miss you!