Although I never got the privilege to meet you in person before you passed on, I wanted to take a minute to let you know about the impact that you have had on my life. October felt like the appropriate time to finally get these thoughts written down. I owe a lot to you, and have so much to thank you for.
Thank you for Rocky and Jessie. I love all my cousins and am grateful for each and every one of them and the example that they give, and the love that I get from them. I learned a lot growing up with all those boys and wouldn't change a thing. Grandma and Gail raised your sons in a way that I know you and Cordray would approve of. They have grown into men that I know you would be proud of.
I have seen the look in my dad's eye when he catches a glimpse of your picture on Grandma's wall. Even now, 20 years after my first trip to Grandma Salazar's house, your picture remains young, beautiful, and flawless. Losing you so young and so unexpectedly was a tremendous tragedy. That is something that my dad, unfortunately, knows all too much about. A lot of people try to sympathize with our losses, but unless you have had a piece of your heart ripped out there is just no way that you could ever know the pain of losing a sibling. My dad and I have something in common - something huge that no one outside of our families could understand. Thank you for loving my dad so much.
I know that you are happy where you are, with your husband, your father, Nick and now Dorothy. I want you to know that because of the loss that your friends, brothers, sisters, mother and sons sustained, I will make sure to take good care of my health. I will encourage every woman I know to get a mammogram to optimize the probability of early detection and recovery, so that no family ever has to go through what ours went through when they lost you. I will wear my pink ribbon with pride and fight to raise awareness, so that no other little boys have to grow up without their mother.
Take good care of that brother of mine, and (try to) keep him out of trouble.
Until we meet again,
-Ashlee
1 comment:
You are amazing!
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