Honoring My Aunt Earlene

A Woman Who Thought of Others Before Herself

Just a few weeks ago, my family lost my aunt Earlene to a long battle with cancer. It’s never easy to say goodbye to a loved one, but every day it becomes a little easier to reminisce about the ways they touched our lives.

My aunt Earlene was my dad’s older sister. The two of them were close, so when I was a kid, we would see Earlene and her husband Jim several times a year. Before moving to Florida just a few years ago, they would often come down to see us because my grandpa lived in Port Charlotte, which allowed them to see as much family as possible on their trip.

Earlene was all about letting family know she was thinking of them. The most standout memory I will always have of her is that she never, ever forgot a birthday or anyone's age. All my life, without fail, I could always expect a birthday card in the mail from Aunt Earlene and Uncle Jim, although I suspect Uncle Jim had nothing to do with the perfect timing of the cards. It always blew me away that no matter what was going on in her life, Earlene remembered everyone’s birthdays, including my own wife and kid's.

I recently learned that every year, Jim would buy Earlene a brand-new desk calendar and she would spend days transferring information from her old calendar to her new one. Not only did she write down the dates of everyone’s birthdays for the entire year, but she also wrote down the exact dates she needed to mail their cards to make sure they arrived on time. She was just one of those people who went above and beyond when she thought of others.

Another thing we could always count on from Aunt Earlene were her cookies. She was an incredible baker, and every year around the holidays, we could always expect a box of homemade cookies. They never lasted until the holiday they were meant for though — they were just too good to not scarf down in a couple of days.

Putting others above herself was what Aunt Earlene was all about. In the midst of battling her cancer, Earlene and Jim moved to southwest Florida, and even though she was going through hardship I can’t even imagine, she still made a point of attending a lot of my kids’ sporting events. They played flag football and baseball, and Earlene and Jim always made it out to several games every season, even though it would have been much easier for my aunt to rest at home. I’ll never forget watching her smile and cheer my kids on from the stands, and I don’t think my kids will either.

She did the same thing for other family members, too. Earlene and Jim had three kids, Sonya, Craig, and Brian, and one of Sonya’s son was an incredible running back for his high school team. Every single Friday night, Earlene and Jim would make the 2 1/2-hour drive there and back to watch him play. They never missed a game.

Every time I write this newsletter, I’ll be thinking of my aunt Earlene, too. Not only did she love reading it every month, but she loved being the first one to respond to our monthly trivia question to win the prize. At one point, she won three months in a row! I swear she must have had the date for the newsletter’s arrival written down in that calendar of hers, too. It always made me laugh when she was the first to chime in, and even though I had to tell her to give others a chance, now I know I’ll miss having her reply ready and waiting in our inbox every month.

When we lose a loved one, it’s important to cherish our memories together and reminisce about everything they brought to our lives. That’s the best way to honor them. My aunt Earlene was a wonderful person and always shared her kindness with loved ones. She may be gone, but the joy of having her in our lives will never fade.