Celebrating a Life Filled with Love

Post date: Apr 05, 2020 3:17:32 PM

I've had plenty of remarkable role models in my life. Starting and ending with my parents. I've been blessed beyond measure with a fantastic family. Strong men and women who encourage, inspire, and love hard. Men and women you look up to and who lift you up to stand beside them.

Kind, patient women who would give you the food from their table, even their plate, and never bat an eyelash. From Mom, to Grandma and Busia, and to my aunts and cousins.

Respectful, courageous men who guide you along the path you want your life to take without steering you the way they think it should go. From Dad, to Grandpa and Dziadzia, and to my uncles and cousins.

But, today, the world seems a little less bright, having lost my godmother. Aunt Doris was a beacon of light with a quick laugh, a warm hug, and a soft heart. She gave as good as she got, but was always ready with a kind word and a listening ear. We all love her and miss her fiercely. The outpouring of love her husband, children, and granddaughter have received and continue to receive is only a small testament to the power of her life.

One life can impact so many. Nothing shows that to us more than Easter Sunday. But, often we can exemplify it through our own selfless love.

We are defined by the people in our lives. I'm thankful to have Aunt Doris be one of those who helped shape me. For me, I can't talk about her without thinking about family and the bonds that we share. We Kreuchers are molded by the example Grandma and Grandpa set and passed down to their children. Lives inextricably intertwined through unbreakable bonds of love, respect, and compassion. Lives of great strength, quiet faith, and unyielding hope.

I learned from my family that love doesn't hold back. Love gives without expecting anything in return. Love isn't with you only when you're happy and times are easy, love stands beside you and lifts you up when you're broken. There have been many wonderful paragons of love in my life; men and women who live out 1 Corinthians 13.

Aunt Doris will always be one of those for me. One of the best.

In this moment, it's difficult to pick a favorite memory of Aunt Doris. But, if pressed, I'd have to say her smile. It easily made you feel welcomed and loved. You always knew where you stood with her, even when she berated you for being foolish or rude, you always knew she loved you and wanted the best for you; there was never any doubt. She wanted to help mold you into the best version of yourself.

A kind, nurturing soul who embodied motherhood...well, to me, aunt-hood.

Forever in our hearts.