Diane

This is what I wrote & sent over for my Aunt Diane's Memorial in Taos New Mexico.

My Aunt Diane

It wasn't until recently that I realised how young Diane was when I was born. She would have been 13 or so then & I only now can see how much she must have loved having a little niece around. Diane & I were close when I was a young kid & I appreciate that so much more now that I am older.

I moved out of the country almost 10 years ago now so I have not seen Diane & Marco as much as we all would have liked. Last fall Diane & I were playing phone tag a lot, at home Im 7 hours ahead so I was almost always at work when she would call & she usually wasn't home when I tried her.. one thing though that was apparent to me when we did talk was that she was not doing good. Although Diane always seemed concerned about my well being & had the best sense of humour on the phone, one of the calls we had in late October was very worrisome to me. I just remember her saying something about time, and not having very much of it. This made me feel that I had to see her as soon as possible. I was able to get the money together to visit her & Marco last November for Thanksgiving. I am so grateful that we had that time together in Taos,it was fun, funny, rocky, emotional,relaxed & sad.

I feel so blessed to have seen Diane when I did.

Even though Diane was in a lot of pain she was still very determined to live a full life & she still dragged me around everywhere to meet all of her friends. She was so full of stories & love & funny thoughts.

When I was in Taos I was filled with the hope & thought that everything would be Okay although I was there when Diane & Marco got the news that the "shadow" had grown & the 2nd surgery was proposed. I really felt that we would have more time. We talked a lot about the next time I might be able to come back & me bringing my husband Ricky so he could play music with her. She was so Happy that I had finally found the right someone to live my life with the same way that she had with Marco.

My mom & I lived with Diane on & off when I was a kid in Chicago, Wisconsin & Indiana.. One of my most favourite memories though from when I was a kid was when I was staying with my Grandparents in Mineral Point Wisconsin & it was the middle of the night & Diane & her old friend Megan showed up & asked my grandmother If they could take me for a few days, when we got out to the car I realised that they had 2 Labrador puppies with them! For a 7 year old that was the coolest thing ever, to have your Aunt come and kidnap you for a few days to hang out with puppies!

Diane was always the coolest ever, when I think of it now so much of my personality & taste is based on something Diane exposed me to at a young age, a movie she brought me to see, music that she played for me or the wonderful gifts she always showered me with when I was growing up,even the pizza I prefer comes from Diane.

In a way she was like a sister to me, Im just so sad that she wont be here anymore. I feel so sad that I chose to live so far away for so long but as I told my Mom today, I know that Diane wanted me to be happy, she always told me to look out for myself & do what I thought I needed to do.

For me the distance has made it pretty hard to come to terms with Diane's death, I have a feeling Im going to be coming to terms with this for a long time.

Someone posted a comment on a YouTube video" the good(the best) die young" and its so true in her case. I just cant believe it a lot of the time, but I can believe that her memory will always be alive & thankfully we have her beautiful music to always remind us of her & someday I hope to play it to my children.

It was always pretty awesome when someone, a friend or maybe someone I didn't know so well would ask if I had a famous sister or aunt..my reply of course being yes!

I feel so grateful that Diane & Marco had each other, as I sit here & try to hold it together writing this I think I have so much more to say.. Im so proud that I had an Aunt Diane,someone that was so wise & magical.

Even though these last few years have been so hard for Diane& Marco Im so grateful they lived in such a beautiful place with a lovely home surrounded by people & pets that cared for them. Im so glad I got to experience that with them for 2 weeks last Thanksgiving. What a very special time it was.

I hope its a beautiful day in Taos with lots of laughing & love & most importantly lots of Chai…

Im sorry that we cant be there with you, My Mother-Diane's sister, has been with us in Scotland during these last 2 months & I speak for her, my husband Ricky & myself when I say thank you for being there, thank you for all loving Diane & supporting her & Marco & thanks for your continued support for Marco. All the love we have been able to see all over Facebook means so much to us being so far away.

March 2011.