Love, Loss, and Legacy: Remembering Aunt Patty

The Day My Aunt Was Taken from Me

My Aunt Patricia, known as Patty by everyone who met her, was an extraordinary woman. Coming from a big family of seven, my aunt loved and cherished everyone she met. She worked at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis for thirty-three years. As many of her colleagues would say, she was a “little ray of sunshine.” However, the “little ray of sunshine” would only be on this earth for such little time. This is a time I will always remember.

It was just an ordinary September day of school for me, but I had no idea it was about to turn into one of the worst days of my life. I was a senior in high school at this time so I got out of school around noon. When I got home, my mom broke the news to me: my aunt was diagnosed with Stage IV brain cancer. None of the family knew that her condition was this bad. We just knew that my aunt had been having headaches quite often. But the news got worse. The doctors were

giving my aunt only three months to live. The doctors stressed that chemotherapy had to be started very soon.
Three months arrived faster than we ever imagined it could. My family was extremely grateful that my aunt was still alive and able to celebrate Christmas with us. At this time, the doctors were more positive about my aunt’s situation. The doctors actually believed my aunt could survive the brain cancer.
Unfortunately, less than two months later, her cancer got worse. Some of her organs were beginning to shut down. The doctors were showing very little hope, but we continued to pray extremely hard that God would give us a miracle and my aunt would miraculously get better.
On February 5, 2015, I had no clue that the worst day of my life was here.

It was just a normal day, or so I thought. After school, my guy friend and I went to the lake in Grenada in hopes to escape from reality. I remember the moment as if it happened yesterday. Around, my mother called me. Considering my mom rarely calls me, I already knew what was about to be said. When I answered the phone, all I could hear was crying. My mom could barely get her words out. After a few seconds of hearing her cry, she finally said those four words that I had been dreading for the past five months. “Aunt Patty has died,” my mom said. At this moment, I was at a loss for words. All I knew to do was to hang up the phone and cry. Thankfully my guy friend knew exactly what was said over the phone and allowed me to just sit there and cry. I might not have seen my aunt much during this terrible journey because of school and distance, but this news devastated me. I had never cried so much in my life, especially in front of

someone.
Two days later, the day of the funeral arrived. The funeral home was so packed, people barely had room to walk around and share their condolences. It was obvious that my aunt knew numerous people and everyone was affected by her in some way. Once we laid my aunt to rest, the entire family went back to my grandmother’s house to share positive stories about my aunt.
Ever since then, my family is more loving and has learned to never take anyone or anything for granted. This five-month period will always have a place in my mind. I will always remember that I am extremely blessed and am forever grateful to have such a beautiful, strong, loving, hard-working lady as an angel looking over me as I continue to live in this scary world.