January 2013

Happy New Year! Chris and I were both working and carrying on with our new "pregnant" life. We hadn't told anyone the news yet and we planned on keeping it that way until we were in the "safe zone." On January 15, our lives changed forever. My dear cousin, AJ, was taken from us far too soon. AJ was the closest thing I ever had to a brother. Lets just be honest, we gave each other hell as kids. We were both very ornery, strong-willed children and we loved to give each other a hard time. As we grew older and matured, AJ became one of my best friends. When I made the move back to Amarillo from Dallas, I called AJ and asked his advice. I always knew he would be honest with me and he had no problem telling me when I was being a fool. Ha! It was one of my favorite things about him...he was honest. He was real. He was FUN. He was an old soul. He loved his wife and family. He was a badass musician. He was serious about his career. He loved with all of his being. Through the loss of AJ, I had to pretend that all was well with me...my only regret is not telling him about our little miracle that was on the way. Two weeks before he left us, we had a "phone date." Both of us were being very wimpy and we wanted to get together and have a couple of drinks (non-alcoholic for me) and talk. However, it was FREEZING outside and sleeting and neither one of us wanted to leave our warm homes, so we had a memorable conversation over the phone, and I withheld our news because I wanted to tell him in person. Well, that never happened. So, here's my rant for this post....tell the ones you love how much you love them and do it often. One thing AJ and I always did was tell each other we loved them. Thank goodness for that. He is now soaring with the Angels and playing phenomenal music in Heaven. I can't wait to see him again. We were blessed enough for AJ to attend our wedding in OKC and also play at our Wedding Party back in Amarillo. This is the last picture I got to take with my precious cousin. Cheers, AJ!