Spring is the season I love most of all. The days start to become longer and the weather gets warmer. The flowers and trees begin to bloom and the crisp morning air feels so refreshing. Each year my mom and I fill our berms with a plethora of tulips and wait for them to pop. Every spring morning we check to see how close they are to opening up and we watch their progress. One morning as the sun comes up, miraculously there are hundreds of red, purple, pink, and yellow flowers vibrantly standing in the backyard. But they aren't just flowers, they are a remembrance of my aunt and her beautiful presence in my life. 

My aunt was the most caring, compassionate, and joyous person. I didn't realize it at the time, but she was the glue to our family and kept us together. She was the healthiest person I knew and ran 6 miles daily to keep up her cross country skills from college. I remember my mom saying, “If anyone was to live until they were 100 it would be aunt Michelle” because she was always in outstanding shape. Around 5 years ago it came as a great surprise that she had been diagnosed with melanoma that had caused cancer to form in her lymph nodes. She had the lymph nodes removed and was told that she had a great chance of recovery. Around a month later it showed up again but in her brain. The cancer kept spreading and spreading for a year until there was no other treatment option. When she passed away it broke my family's heart and I didn't realize how much of an impact her being gone would have on my life.

Tulips were her most favorite flower and she always sent them to our house when someone made an accomplishment. When I made the high school cheer team, on birthdays, when my mom got teacher of the year, or when we got good grades at the end of the school year there were flowers at our house. For my dad and brother, she would send their favorite sugar cookies. It's the little things that she did, that was so special and made you feel good and proud of yourself. And so now, the reason why we grow so many tulips is so that we can put them in a vase and deliver them to my grandma and family for them to look at them as a remembrance as well. 

I've been thinking about her more recently as well with Prom. She lived in Kansas City and we would always go visit them when it was around prom time. She had a daughter and two sons, so she was always the one to get all the stuff ready for prom. She always found the most unique corsages and boutonnieres and we would go with her to pick them up the day of prom. For my prom, a couple of weeks ago me and my mom were having trouble finding flowers that we liked. We found ourselves wanting to call my aunt for her advice and where the best place to get them from was. 

It's instances like these that make me cherish the time I have with my family. My aunt taught me how to be strong, how to love, and how it's the little things that count in life. Every time I spot a tulip, it reminds me of her and all those things. It creates feelings of happiness and gratitude for the time and memories that I had with my aunt Michelle.