Four Years Later

Dear Darlene,

Today, you have been gone for four years and I miss you now more than ever.  There is so much I want to say to you, and I'm not even really sure how to start.

First and most importantly, thank you for Jason.  You raised a charismatic, yet trying, little boy into the most amazing man I've ever met.  He is everything you promised me he would be and more.  He is faithful, to God and to me, loving, considerate, hard-working and sincere.  He respects me, and all women, because he had you to show him how great a woman can be when she's loved and treated well.  He is very active in our church, serving on a leadership team and teaching the grade school kids every Sunday.  He's a good son, brother, friend, husband and father.  He misses you so much and tells the kids about you all the time.

The kids.  They know you.  They recognize you in pictures and know who you are.  Kyran is a little Jason.  He looks so much like Jason did as a kid, and acts just like him, based on the stories you told us.  He loves to sing and has never met a stranger.  Karyssa looks like a little me.  She is thoughtful and a little slow to warm to strangers, with big brown eyes and curly dark brown hair.  Sometimes she'll sing, in her sweet little voice, and I'll think I hear you. 

They are so much fun, and so smart.  They have come so, so far.  Sometimes I forget how far.  They are also sweet and kind.  Their eyes remind me of yours.  Not the color, but that it seems sometimes that love is just flowing out of them, and the looks they give remind me of how you looked at Tom, Jason, Tammy and even me.  (They have also mastered the glare that you used when anyone mistreated someone you loved.) 

They are a handful, but a heart-full as well.  The terrible twos are here, but they aren't nearly as bad as stories I've heard.  They do like to test limits, but they know how to apologize and forgive.  You would be so proud of them. 

Tom is such a good granddad.  I know it is bittersweet for him, but the kids adore him and love when we visit or when he comes down to see us.  He always has a pocket full of Smarties for them.  I love to see how silly he is with them.  He's great at making them giggle. 

Tammy is just about the best aunt imaginable.  Her husband Carey is wonderful and I don't think he differentiates between Kyran and Karyssa and his own blood-related niece and nephews.  They come to visit often and call a lot when they aren't here.  There is a new phone called an iPhone, that we all have, so we can talk face-to-face.  They love being able to see Tammy, Carey and Molly on the phone. 

You are always on my mind and in my heart.  I miss you.  I know how much guidance you would have given me, from "dealing" with Jason to parenting to general advice about life.  I know how much you would have spoiled your grandchildren.  How much you would have loved them.

Again, I say thank you.  Thank you for this family you created and welcomed me into so openly.  I am so blessed to be a part of your legacy. 

I love you,
Your Talyse