Aunt Paula was an unwavering, unbreakable, force of positive, amber colored energy. After Grams passed, Aunt Paula was the matriarch of our family. Have a genealogy question? Aunt Paula has our family tree memorized for generations, she’s got you. Like Grams, Aunt Paula was my link to my cousins when too much time passed by without keeping in touch with them. She filled me in on what was going on with everyone, kept me in the loop, picking up right where Grams left off.

Aunt Paula was a resonant listener. Resonant listeners are far and few between these days. Someone who is fully present in their listening. So much of the time we all tend to just wait for our turn to speak, we’re excited and perhaps impatient to burst out with what we have to say. Resonant listening is a practice that was intrinsic to Aunt Paula’s loving, attentive and devoted nature.

To know Aunt Paula was to love her. This saying may be a cliché, but with Pawla, there was no halfway. She was all in on your life once you were in hers. Checking in frequently, keeping tabs on all of the many facets of your life, rooting you on in life’s most seemingly mundane endeavors. Aunt Paula made you feel seen like not many people do.

She loved her tribe (which is mighty and vast, spanning many states and even countries) with every fiber of her being. She lived every aspect of her life with everything she had.

Aunt Paula was so many things. A daughter. A sister. A niece. A cousin. An aunt. A best friend. A survivor. A traveler. A thinker. A pen pal. A listener. A dancer. A singer. A wine lover. A wanderer. An explorer. A role model. A fighter. An independent woman. Aunt Paula’s identity was intertwined with so many and with so much.

Her strongest and most fierce identity of all though, was a mother and best friend to Mindy.

If you were even merely an acquaintance of Paula’s, you understood the ferocity in which she loved her daughter, and equally, how much she loved being Mindy’s mama. Aunt Paula could spark lightening with the electric energy she had when she would fill me in on what was happening in Mindy’s, and then Mindy & Russell’s lives. I loved hearing about my cousin’s adventures and plans. It made me feel more connected. And for that I’ll always be grateful.

Aunt Paula your unforgettable, unmistakable, contagious laugh will ring in my ears forever. I will particularly forever remember the last time that I heard it. On my wedding day. At the alter preparing to marry Michael. Peter spoke about how I was perfect for Michael because of how I loved him despite his flatulence 😂 and your laughter echoed beyond all others.

That is how I will always remember you, my dear Aunt PauliePants. Laughter, warmth, comfort, friendship, **unconditional love**.

“See you on the other side”

I love you so much,

♥️ Tayls