Ode to Aunt Ilene

Ode to Aunt Ilene.  Sometimes in life, you are blessed, blessed by the love of another human being, and after that encounter, you are just never the same.

For me, that person is my Aunt Ilene.  She married my Uncle when I was just 7 and she has been loving, supporting, and showing me great generosity and understanding ever since.  We may live in different states and are separated by long miles but that never made a difference.  I could feel her love across the miles through letters, Christmas gifts, and her “special letters” that included a gift to take the family out to have some fun!

After I got married she just kept on encouraging and loving, she just opened her arms even wider to include my husband and she has done the same for all six of my children!

It has been 12 years since I have seen her in person but this past week I was able to spend some truly wonderful hours with her!  We made a trip back to my childhood home in New Jersey and of course, we stayed with Aunt Ilene.  She always opens her home to us!  This is no easy thing, we are a MOB and we have allergies.  Not easy house guests to have!  The house was loaded with gluten-free items.  Aunts think of everything!

To make things even more extraordinary, she isn’t even married to my Uncle anymore!

I enjoyed reminiscing and laughing over family stories, my girls loved it too!  They had never heard some of the stories and they were laughing even harder than us!  Good times!

There were so many times when I was growing up that she would speak into my life.  If I had been hurt by family members’ well-meaning comments, it was always her who sought me out and made things all better.  Sometimes, she would make me laugh, other times she would hug me, and other times she would engage me in an activity with her that would make me feel better.

In college, I went to stay with my Aunt Ilene and Uncle Gary on several spring breaks (they lived in New York City then) and even lived with them for a month to make the “BIG BUCKS” in the city so I could purchase my first car.  It was Aunt Ilene who set up and planned the whole work opportunity for me!

On this trip she wanted to do something special for us (OF COURSE) so she took us to the Broadway Show Cinderella.  Tenth-row center!  It was the first show for my daughters and it had been 25 years for my husband, mother, and I.  The show was magical!  We had the time of our lives and we got to experience it with those we love! PRICELESS!

The generosity she shows is not limited to her family…

She is a teacher and has been an advocate for children most of her life as both a mother of three and as a teacher.  I was inspired by how she has a passion for educating the “whole child”  not just the academic side.  She is also passionate about teaching parents to advocate for their own children!  The number of hours she puts in at school and out of school was awe-inducing!

She is RARE!

I am BLESSED!

My children are BLESSED by this RARE example of what FAMILY looks like.  It is not self-seeking and always generous and rarely easy!

With all of my heart, I shout from the mountaintop THANK YOU AUNT ILENE!

YOUR TURN…

What extraordinary person do you have in your family?

Blessings,