“Last week the world lost an awesome person but gained a beautiful guardian angel”

That’s the sugary-sweet, yet sad introduction to this post. Dedicated to “tantemoster Anne.”

I don’t remember the exact time I first met Anne, but I know I was 4 years old and in Fort Myers, Florida. She was married to a Danfoss man who was stationed in Fort Myers, and quickly became friends with both myself and my mother. She also worked part-time in my kindergarten, the Edison Learning Center. According to my memory, it didn’t take long for the too of us to become great friends. Anne was in her second marriage and was wishing for another child of her own, and for a few years I became her little princess, until she finally got a little princess of her own. She took care of me and let me play with her hair, taught me to not eat with my mouth open, and to like cheeseburgers.

(Funny story: I didn’t understand the concept/difference between cheeseburgers and hamburgers. I would always order a cheeseburger without cheese because I thought I didn’t like cheese. One time Anne was babysitting me and we went through the McDonalds drivethrough, and of course we ended up with a cheeseburger with cheese. Crisis!)

Our friendship continued the next year in Baltimore. Anne was nice enough to go stand in line to sign me up for ballet lessons, because my family was on vacation at the time of signups.

After that year Anne and her husband moved back to Florida, and she finally got her beautiful little princess.
The past 15 years our families have kept in touch. Some years more than others, but always bonded by our common experiences and memories from the past, and to me she was always aunt Anne. Her little daughter became close friends with my own little sister. Our parents were friends, and they came to big family events.

I won’t get into all the details of the horrible sickness and pain that Anne had to suffer through the past 6 years, but would rather like to honour the incredible strength she exhibited throughout the entire process. I can only hope to be as strong as her and to have the same will to live and love and laugh. Anne lived years beyond the expectations given to her by the doctors, she wanted so much to live and to watch her daughter, son, and grandchildren grow up. She was always planning her next big event or her next big vacation. She got to live to see her daughters confirmation, her sons wedding, beautiful grandchildren, vacations and cruises.

In the end though, the human body can only take so much, and her body grew tired before Anne and before time. We all knew it would happen eventually, but it was still a hard hit. She fought for so long that I know we were all counting on another miracle.

Rest in Peace tante Anne. Where you are now, I know there is no pain and no worries. We’ll take good care of your daughter and your memory.