For Judi

I wasn't sure what I wanted to say when we received news that Josh's aunt Judi had passed after a battle against cancer. I knew that I didn't want this to go unacknowledged in this space. After all, this is much larger than nail polish and sock buns. So here's what I came up with.

I am from a family where the aunts, uncles and grandparents helped raise the kids. When I was a baby my uncle took care of me, and my aunt took care of my cousin. I spent many summers with our grandparents watching over me, my two cousins and my older brother. We held strong to the whole it takes a village thing.

And Josh's family does too. He has many, many, many childhood memories of Judi. I'm sure I won't do the stories justice if I try to retell them. However, I will say that the one tale that seems to surpass time is when Judi gave Josh a baby bottle full of Pepsi when he was a toddler; nearly 30 years later, just a few weeks ago, she offered his 18 month old son a pop and gave him a little swig of 7 Up.

I'm thankful she was part of his village.