Sad day

The day before my birthday I got a call from my cousin that my Aunt Jan had passed away. It was a very sad day in my life as well as a lot of other people. My Aunt Jan was like a second mom to me. After I moved out of my parents house and needed to move "back into my parents house" she offered her house as a temp place for me. I lived with her two times in 5 years when I needed a place to live. She was always my favorite Aunt. We were the closest. I was like her in a lot of ways. My sister started to call me "mini Aunt Jan". I took that to be offensive when I first heard it. She was always demanding and bossy. She ran her own catering company and I worked for her for years. She was in fact bossy and demanding, but she always got the job done and always was very loving to anyone who knew her. She would let my friends work for her catering on the side to make an extra $100 here and there. She was the first one to volunteer to have a Holiday party at her house and if it wasn't at her house, she was catering it wherever it was. In my family, the second you got married, she would be the first to ask when and can I cater it? For my wedding she was my savior. When a bride comes to her wedding day, there is already enough stress, but knowing that my Aunt Jan was taking care of everything really helped me get through my day. Between her and my cousin Chrissy, I didn't have to worry about a thing! I walked into the reception hall and everything was even better then I could have ever dreamed of! Nothing I would have changed! They made sure the pressure was off of me and took care of it all! From the decorations and the food, to the cake that SHE made me. She never missed a beat! Everything had to be perfect in her eyes and always was. She made sure of it!

When Alana was born she made sure to make a trip down to see us at the hospital. Every time we came over she was the first to stretch out her arms to hold her. The second you walked in the door at her house, she tried to feed you. Didn't matter if you just ate, she wanted to make sure you weren't hungry or thirsty!

This lady was one of the most important women in my life. When my mom died, she took care of everything for us. She made sure there was hot coffee and food at the house so that when people came over we had stuff for them. She really was just the best Aunt ever! Her warm hugs and the love for Alana will be missed. She always thought of me as her 4th child. She told me that so many times! She had 5 grandchildren and made Alana her 6th. Every Christmas and birthday and any Holiday really, she always made sure to get Alana something and include her in everything she did for her grand kids.

I write this blog today because I haven't really been able to be very selfish with her death. She was my dad's sister and my cousin's mother. She was a lot to a lot of people so I've tried to remember that. But this is my blog so I can be as sad as I want to! :(

Her funeral way BIG with hundreds of people, the newspaper said about 600, but I guessed about 800. Some amazing articles were written about her in the paper which was really nice, and then I found out yesterday they are going to name an award after her. Pretty awesome. I miss her and love her. I'm glad she gets to hang out with my mama now. Those were two of the coolest ladies I had ever had the privilege to be close to!