It goes without saying, that you never know the impact a person makes on your heart, until you reach the unspeakable unfathomable moment that you realize never again, can you pick up the phone, plan a family holiday, reunion, a Facebook post, or say I love you.

The Hearts I Leave Behind. The Pete Scobell Band speaks volumes to the life of my Aunt Diana.  She was the sort of human that you just want to have in your life.  Infectious laughter and an unwavering commitment to family, to friends.  I first met my Aunt Diana Weber when I was 10 years old give or take. We traveled to the family farm in Tilden, Nebraska for the wedding of my father to Carolyn Morse, my stepmother.  Kind from the word go. Business to the word go.  That is my Aunt Diana.

She sewed four matching dresses.  Three for my sisters and I, one for her daughter Nancy with matching barrettes.  At ten years old — it was a big deal for sure. There was a dollhouse, a small hand made quilt, churned ice cream, a ride in the bucket of Uncle Ron’s tractor to pick apples.  There was turkey in a roasting pan and a Thanksgiving dinner served around the ping pong table in the basement.  Trips to the fish hatchery and picnic lunches.  Always one for the road back home to Denver.

And then… taking my family to Nebraska.  Daniel as a child, and then a teen, bringing my niece on the road trip.  Turtle races and small town parades.  Pancake breakfasts in the morning and sitting around the table playing cards at night.  Can you possibly know the value of these little moments until all you have is the memory of having them?

We last went to Nebraska this past Fourth of July.  Traveling with my sister, niece Rebecca and small nephew Anthony.  Aunt Diana had melanoma removed from her arm just weeks before, and a “spot” from her lung.  More small town parades, another family dinner at the Pizza Hut on R Street.  These moments are impossible to put a value on.  You simply can’t.

And then… Cancer continues the invasion.  Spread to her brain.  The places and spaces that make my Aunt Diana exactly who she is.

Tonight, Aunt Diana, has made her journey.  Having left a lifetime of memory and influence in my life I am not quite sure that she was ever aware existed.

Hearts I Leave Behind