Family Strong

Today my family and I laid my Aunt Josephine, better known as Zia Guiseppa, to her eternal rest. She was an amazingly strong woman who loved spending time with each and every one of us. She made big Sunday dinners to keep us all together and smiled the biggest smile whenever she saw any one of us. She was a remarkable woman who loved God and will be greatly missed. Her death marks the fifth member of our family to pass within a 7 month time frame. It’s because of these past months that I don’t believe my family will ever be the same.

We love so much and lost so much. With days filled with pain from the loss of the one before we lost again just when we thought we couldn’t hurt any more. The grief and sorrow on many days is unbearable but we continued on and came together through tears. We hugged and cried holding on a little tighter just in case the time we thought we had is shorter than we realized.

Pain isn’t easy. It’s a burden you can carry for a long time as it can be years or even take a lifetime to heal. A person’s natural tendency is to isolate themselves; to stay alone and process their sorrow. It’s easier to run and escape or to pretend it isn’t happening and focus on something easier.

But we didn’t do that…

We never ran away but ran to each other. We never escaped but we came together. We never hid but we faced it head on. We are family and we are strong. Holidays and gatherings may never be the same as they were but, in honor to those we lost, we will band together as they always wanted. We’ll go the extra mile, spend the extra minute, hug a little longer and say “I love you” one extra time. It’s by being together that we will be strong. Together we will pass down the legacy we were taught and move forward always honoring those who held this family as top priority after God.

It’s not going to be easy these days ahead. We’ll still cry and feel loss but we will come out better than when we walked into this. We will be family and lean on each other and love harder than we have before. Together, just as we have these past few months, we will stay strong…. Family Strong as God intends.