Auntie Jemme
"Go for it, Mer" Jemme said with a smile as she gave me a thumbs up.
My aunt Jemme had driven me to the Atlanta airport to begin a solo trip in 1994. I had a one way ticket to London and not a single idea where I would stay when I got there. She understood my need to go and was as excited as I was as we said our good-byes.
She has been with me this way and in countless other Ordinarily Amazing ways for my entire life. As a child I always knew that Jemme saw me, heard me, got me. She sympathized with my adolescent struggles and helped me see that they were important but that they would pass. She still stuns me with her insights, her compassion, her love, her openness. Her presence has made my life better and I will never be able to repay her kindness, though I know she doesn't expect me to.
Even this year, with the sudden loss of her dear husband, my uncle David, she has continued to see and fulfill the needs of others, including me. I am in awe of her light and am lucky to be bathed in it, like a seedling learning about life from the sun.
MHK West Columbia, SC
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