Life without a daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, grand-daughter & a friend. All that and more is what we have lost when our beloved Beth passed away. For those that did not have the pleasure of knowing her you have missed out on meeting a young courageous woman that has touched so many hearts for that I shall weep for you.
Beth had Diabetes she fought all her life trying to get the better of this disease, she had her good days & bad days but it never changed her outlook on life, she never crawled under the covers & hid herself away she never gave up. How many people can you say fought so courageously & for so long without giving up. She got up every morning & lived her life to the best of her ability, & for that I can only try to learn from her. We should all learn from the way she lived, that she lived with such a disability in such a way that you would never have known that she was sick & had such a war on her hands. I wonder now if God only gives such hardships to the strong ones because He knows that they can handle this life & whatever is thrown at them. Because handle it she did. Even now that she is gone I can say she didn’t give up, her body gave up. Her mind, her spirit, her will to live was still fighting even in the end. I am proud to call myself her cousin.
When our beloved Beth passed away she left a void in all of our lives, for those of us she left behind we still weep, we still grieve & wonder why? Why her? Why now? I can’t say she was perfect because she wasn’t, none of us are, she had a great qualities & bad qualities but that just made her all the sweeter. Beth could laugh at anything & everything including herself, she could rip into you with such a mouthy comeback it would leave your head spinning. Her temper would boil one moment & she could be the most caring person the next. Oh did I mention she was stubborn? Oh yes stubborn as a damn mule!!!! Beth had such a spirit about her, you knew when she was around there was no ignoring her. She loved & cherished new nephew, she was her Mothers best friend, she loved & fought with her brother, & when I would meet up with Beth after spending a year apart she would hug me & all the time spent apart was forgotten. I could go on & on about her style of clothing, her taste in music, the artistic side of her so many things about Beth we can remember. But still she is not here, as time goes on the sharp edge of grief will fade & we can tell outlandish stories about Beth, & hope that she isn’t shouting down from above about us exaggerating things she was & did !!! We will look at pictures & remember a time that was better just because she was a part of our lives.
As I write this, I think of so many times over the years I have spent with Beth, it puts tears in my eyes. But I will not cry, I will not cry, I did my crying on the day she left us. Now I will smile at remembering the time I had with her & can only wish I had more memories of her. I will end this in a quote that I think she would like:
“Love Beth & Love but Beth Forever Because God Made Beth & will Never make Another”
She was one of a kind & not only will I miss her dearly but all of us will have a piece missing from our lives till we can once again join her in the afterlife…
Her loving cousin, Wendy.