Aimee was an unforgettable person. Her love, compassion, and dedication to service was unrivaled by any person I've ever known. For me, remembering Aimee won't be difficult since I've got 32 years of memories with her. Aimee's impact on my life was and is profound and ineffable, and while I know that there's no sense to be made of her death, that does not diminish the significance of Aimee's life.
Now my goal is to preserve Aimee's impact and legacy for my niece Rowan. Certainly we've got pictures and family heirlooms that will pass to Rowan to teach and remind her of the kind of mother that Aimee was. I have even recorded Aimee's voice mail messages off my cell phone so that Rowan can hear the love, the sincerity, the kindness that Aimee exuded even when simply leaving a message to call her back. But I want to give Rowan more since her loss was the greatest. I've created an email account to send Rowan letters and stories about Aimee so that she may not have to wonder who her mother is. The address is simply: missingaimeerhoads@gmail.com.
I welcome your stories, scanned pictures, and memories of my beloved sister. By compiling these resources into one area, Pat and I will be able to print these items out and create a memory book to share with Rowan when she's at an age to understand. Whether you're an older friend from the Milan years or a newer friend from Aimee's Seattle adventures, your memories of Aimee are important to share with Rowan. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts and feelings as I know that will not only be a great comfort now for our family, but will serve to teach Rowan about her mother for years to come. Thank you.
such a lovely post, and a BEAUTIFUL idea... thank you justin and pat!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very nice idea Justin. Although I never did get to meet Amiee, I do remember seeing her in the hall at church before, and my wife Marilyn had met both her and Rowan, as she sometimes helps in the children's ministry. Also, just as an FYI, if you want to make this, or any blog into a book, you can do that through this service: http://blogspot.sharedbook.com/blog2print/googleblogger/index.html I've never used it but it supposed to be good. Good luck with your legacy project, I know it will mean a lot to Rowan someday.
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DeleteAn excellent idea Justin! I had been thinking about this very thing - how wonderful it would be for Rowan to get to know her Mum through other peoples eyes. I had planned on sending a card to Pat to give to Rowan when she got older. I worked with Aimee via LENS treatments and she was the most fun person! We usually wound up giggling over something or other, talking about her sassy fashion boots, her family and other interests. She even allowed me to bring my old dog, Miz Scarlett, to my treatments. (I kept trying to talk Aimee into treating Miz Scarlett but I never quite succeeded...) She was an increadable
Deletepractitioner - skilled, compassionate and very intuitive. She helped me immensely.
She was the best and I carry her in my heart as a wise woman 'consultant' for when I'm struggling over an issue. Many thanks to both you and Pat for providing me with a way through this - because I'm not part of her friends community, it was hard to process this on my own. The blog has been so wonderful.
With so much love and gratitude,
Holly Allen