Today we celebrate the life of your Aunt Emily. I know you loved her like we all did. I want you guys to have this letter from all of us to your Aunt Emily. I hope it reminds you of her and on difficult days I hope your mother will read it to you.
Dear Emily,
Where do we begin? I guess we have to begin with the image every one has when they think of you…your smile.
Your smile will undoubtedly be described many times today. Beautiful, warm, bright…all these words describe your smile, but more than anything your smile was infectious. Your smile made it impossible not to smile. Impossible.
You were genuine. You had a genuine interest in the people and the world around you. Anytime we needed someone to talk to we knew you’d be there to listen, to really listen. You would do the Emily nod to let us know you were listening, you would smile, you would engage us you would do the Emily hand-over-heart laugh whenever we'd say something you thought was funny. You were already a great psychologist in your own right—especially with Lauren.
Your enthusiastic approach to life is a template of how each of us should live. You knew what you wanted, you worked hard to get it, and you never stopped pushing yourself. You were so personally driven, yet you never stopped caring about others, especially our family.
We'll never forget one of the first times you held Connor. How you squeezed him as he slid down the front of you. Then you stood up with him in your arms thinking you had adjusted properly. It was hard to tell who was more uncomfortable, you or Connor. You eventually figured it out and by the time Jack was lucky enough to be held in your arms, you were a pro.
One of our fondest memories as a family was the trip to New York to celebrate Mom’s 50th birthday and you decided to take a family picture of us. Before you took the picture you screamed “Everyone say Shawn and I are moving to Philly!” Finding out that you both were going to live so close to us was some of the best news we had ever received.
Being able to be in the presence of you and Shawn may have been the greatest of the many gifts you gave us. For those of us still searching for love, you gave us hope. You gave us hope that there is someone out there that’s perfect for us. There’s someone out there as weird, or as awkward, or as unapologetically nerdy as two people with a science themed wedding. You had already won us over before that wonderful day. You became our daughter and our sister long before august 16th 2009.
You filled a space in this family we didn't know was there, and you left us all with a whole in our hearts. We will miss you ever day and we will never forget you. But more than that we will REMEMBER:
We will remember how genuine you were. And we will remember to be true to ourselves.
We will remember how kind you always were. And we will remember to always be kind.
We will remember how ambitious you were. How hard you worked. And we will work harder.
We will remember your smile, and be forced to smile ourselves.
We will remember how much you loved Shawn, how your love inspired us and gave us hope. And we will remember that love exists, that love is real.
We will remember you, Emily, for the person you were and the person you tried to be. We will always remember you because we will carry you with us always.
We love you.
-The O’Connor Family
No comments:
Post a Comment