Celebrating my Great Aunt, Joan Hardwick: 1927-2018

Yesterday, in the wee hours of the morning, my Great Aunt moved on from this world. She was 91 (almost 92!) and was like a grandmother to me.

"Butch," as we lovingly called her (a nickname she's had forever), has been a staple in my life since I was born. Growing up she attended all of my sporting events, concerts, and art shows, and as an adult she has continued to be a huge part of my life despite living far away--even going as far as to come visit us on Cape Cod last year at Thanksgiving (when she was 90!!!). 

Butch was someone that I felt might live forever. She was still sharp as a tack at 91 and I think she might have lived forever if she hadn't had Stage 4 Cancer, which they discovered just a little less than 2 months ago.

I'm not a religious person and I don't have any clear beliefs about what happens to our souls when we die, but I had a middle-of-the-night experience on the night that Butch left this world that makes me believe that there is something powerful that happens as we leave/when we leave. It's too hard to explain here and too big to sum up in words, but suffice it to say that I knew when Butch died and I felt it--I had a dream-like experience that woke me up crying and I knew she was gone without having any official confirmation of it yet. 

This experience was wild and reaffirmed for me how deeply we are connected to our family and to our loved ones. I will miss Butch *so* much but I am also so glad that I got to say goodbye and that she knew how loved she was when she passed. 

So today, with this post, I celebrate all of the strong, intelligent, steadfast, beautiful women who have come before me. I celebrate Butch and all of the love that she gave to this world (and all of the hardships that she endured but pushed through). I feel so grateful to have known her + loved her, and am honored to be a part of her lineage.