Last week, we had a celebration of life for Tanya.  A week after her death was what would have been her 39th birthday.

We had people visit from all over.  Our relatives came in from Pittsburgh, PA.  My aunt traveled down from Albany, New York.  My youth leader/ father figure  and his wife traveled from Columbus, Ohio.  One of the young men from my youth group traveled from Nashville.  We also had people from all over the area.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate a life that was cut short.  She didn’t realize how loved she was when she was here on Earth.

We also released purple balloons in her memory.