My Awesome Aunt

I am very fortunate to have some truly amazing women as my aunts (my mom has 4 sisters, plus one aunt on my dad's side by marriage), all of whom are inspirations to me in their own special ways. Ranging the spectrum from liberal to conservative, teachers to nurses to PhDs, with different roles in my life, I'm pretty much a really lucky kid.

This entry is for my aunt Mary who is a first grade teacher. She's not just any first grade teacher though, she has won state awards for being the coolest most awesome teacher ever, she writes everything with a ruler underneath, giving her a very distinct handwriting, hand-makes every card she sends to anyone for any occasion from scratch, has the most innovative ideas to creatively teach her children, and keeps in touch with her kids literally through their entire lives. For each one of her children she makes a "time capsule" of sorts that she gives to them to open when they graduate high school (or maybe it's college, I can't remember) of some of their work and various other little things. She goes to graduations, weddings, showers, birthdays, and (unfortunately) the occasional funeral. I don't know how she does it, but she does beautifully and seemingly effortlessly. I could tell equally great stories about each of my aunts but I tell this one today because she was talked about in an article in my hometown local paper. She truly has shown me a great example of how to make a tangible and selfless impact on those around you by loving simply yet profoundly. It is the small things that count, and in the details, as well as the big-picture stuff, she does it right.

I feel truly blessed for having my aunt Mary, and all my aunts, who are role-models and mentors, as well as darn good chefs, card and charades players. Someday, I hope to get there. :)