My Aunt Jennifer passed away a little more than a month ago. She had spent the final couple of weeks in the hospital as she suffered through the pain. When she finally did let go, my mom, my aunt and my uncle were there with her. The whole family had moved past the anger about how unfair it was, but that didn’t lessen the sadness we all felt… and continue to feel.

The Celebration of Life for her was at our church (the one my mom and her grew up in). They had to have an overflow room to make space for all the people who wanted to share the day. Seeing the impact that she had on so many people made me so proud to be her nephew. And hearing my cousin Sam speak about her made me thankful she was part of my life. You can watch his speech here:

After four and a half years of watching her strength and her suffering, we’re trying to move on as a family. We’ve had family dinners together since, and even celebrated my mom’s birthday over at Jennifer’s house. Mom cried as we sang Happy Birthday. I think we all did.

My cousin Addis, her youngest son, leaves for college soon, so we’ll be getting together to celebrate him. It’ll also be 40 days since her passing, which is the end of the initial mourning period in Ethiopian culture, according to my Uncle Ermyais, her husband. But I’m not sure if we’ll ever stop thinking of the presence that is missing at all those family events in the future.

I love you, Aunt SheShe.