"You Light Up My Life" Sundays

This past week has been marked by a tragedy in my "extended" family. One of my second cousins died early last week. Now if you know me in real life, then you know that I have many, many, many 2nd cousins (hundreds actually) so this type of 'distant' relative dying usually wouldn't have much impact on me, since I actually don't know many of them-it would be sad, yes, but more in the sense of hearing that a stranger had passed away not a close relative.
This time was different though-I actually knew her & grew up with her & her siblings. In fact, her mom calls my mom her 'big sister'. My aunt was her mom's college roommate & her godmother. Her mom & dad are in my mom & dad's card club (again, if you know my family-you know that playing cards is a HUGE deal!) I grew up going over to her house with my sisters occasionally while mom would do her shopping. I also played volleyball against & with her sister. I could go on & on. I can't, however, say that I knew her super well-she was always younger than me-one of the 'little' kids just like my youngest sister & she fell just far enough behind me in school (grade wise) that she was always at a different level (middle school vs high school, high school vs college, etc) again just like my sister, but I can say that our families are close & that she will be greatly missed. She was only 24 (2 months younger than my sister in fact) & her death came very suddenly & totally unexpectedly. She died from a blood clot that went to her lungs-she had just had surgery a couple of weeks ago to repair an ankle injury [she was a college volleyball player] & the clot developed sometime afterwards. She was going to medical school to be a doctor for people in rural areas & had just received her white coat 2 days before she died. It is a tragedy, but through all of it-the one thing that everyone agreed on is that she was very much loved & was a good person to her family, friends & anyone she came in contact with. In fact, many of the things that were said about her at the funeral are things that I hope people will say about me someday when my time comes to an end. She did much with the few short years she was given & she definitely let people know how much they meant to her.
All of this has inspired me to use my blog to let people know how much they mean to me, so Sundays here at "Faith, Hope & Poop" are going to be called '"You Light Up My Life" Sundays' & each week I will feature someone who 'lights up' my life & tell you just why they are so special to me. I hope that you will enjoy it & that you will go out & tell those that you love just how much they mean to you!~Kindra, here's to you! Rest in peace lovely lady.