Most would say they could hear her laugh before they even saw her. Like many people in our family she was LOUD. Honestly, I think thats what makes me smile the most about her memory is the magnitude in which she lived her life to the fullest. She was always laughing not the small giggling kind but the full on laughter that warms you from the inside out.
Love is worth the journey even when there is heart ache because of the things you experience in between. When you piece together all of the special moments in your life you notice a pattern of the people around you. Bree may not have lived at my house but you would’ve never known otherwise. She was a part of our every day life. We ate breakfast together some days. Our parents took turns taking groups (yes groups) of us to school. She was at every significant life event and was always the loudest one cheering in the crowd.
Like many in our family she was a Bronco. I was so excited for her to enjoy the same University so many of us loved. She made such a wonderful best friend there. Jacob and Bree were inseparable. Every time I saw her she would share her funny stories about the two of them.
Yesterday was her birthday. Such a short 23 years she spent with us but such a long trail of love she has left behind. I’ve worked in Intensive Care for over five years and I have seen heartache. I have seen loss and sadness in its most raw form: Unexpected. I have held the hands of patients and family members when they’ve been told “It’s cancer and the prognosis is poor.” I’ve watched the color drain from their faces and their hearts sink. There are no words to say in those moments. These are the moments that remind me to hold the ones I love closely, to appreciate the precious time we are given here and to love abundantly.
Life is short but love is very very long. Eventually the days will turn into weeks and the weeks into years but the memory of her will never fade. Even on the sad days, I know the Lord has cups overflowing with grace. In every heartbreak there is refuge. Today I am finding refuge in a warm cup of tea with sweet honey. Bee has always been her nickname. Every time I open a jar of honey, I think of her. It’s soothing and sweet. Although the pain of loss lingers, her memory will always bring a sweet smile to my face because she was a woman of laughter. A woman of love. A woman of passion for life.
As I sit here sipping my tea, I’ll hold on to the memories and I’ll let it Bee.
#travel the world with me 