"Auntie Paula"

I don't really talk much about my family here...  We're the typical dysfunctional type and small in numbers...

The family

But this past week, we lost one of our own.  Suddenly and unexpectedly.

My "Auntie Paula" (as she signed all of my cards and emails) is my mom's only sister.  She has two daughter's both in their 20's.  Paula and the girls are very close.  While Paula lived in NC, the girls both got jobs in Tampa, FL.  Paula JUST bought a house down there and was making plans for her move there, as soon as she sold her place in NC.  But tragically, she was taken away before that day came.

Paula with her oldest daughter on her wedding day.

When you lose someone, you "remember" all kinds of things.  I remember when I was 14....  Paula lived in Jacksonville, FL.  She picked me up in VA, and took me to FL to hang out for a few weeks.  We went to St. Augustine, FL which is still one of my most favorite places because of that trip.  She also took me to Disney World for the first time, and as fate would have it, she couldn't ride a single ride with me as she had just found out she was pregnant with her first child!

She also made the best fudge ever.  She swears it's the recipe off of the cocoa can, but I KNOW she must have doctored it somehow.  It was something I looked forward to every single Christmas.  No matter where I was, she always made sure I had a container of fudge.

So beautiful, so classy, so loved!

She had a great sense of humor, and always sang a very off key rendition of happy birthday to me no matter where either of us were in our lives.

I do have many, many, many happy memories of her, and I'm very grateful for all them.

But honestly I'm so mad she was taken way too soon.  It's just not fair...

I'll miss her beyond words.

Rest in Peace, sweet Paula.

AMW