The One About the Pink-Out

     I really wanted to share this.  My Aunt Judy has been gone over a year now.  My cousins did something really sweet to honor her memory.  Last night was the Pink-Out volleyball triangular in Ewing.  We hosted Chambers-Wheeler Central and Cedar Valley.  The schools all sold pink shirts that say "Volley for the Cure!"  Everyone was told to wear pink to the games, and all the teams were dressed in pink.  A pink volleyball signed by the Lady Huskers was auctioned off to raise money for breast cancer research. 
    My cousins (who I still can't believe are in high school) both play on the varsity team.  Riley and Sammie painted their fingernails pink and had wrote Judy's name and initials on their nails.

     Judy loved volleyball.  She always brought Grandma Rita to the games, even if they were far away.  Judy was really looking forward to watching Riley play high school ball.  With Suz being the coach for so many years and Riley groomed from birth to be a volleyball player, we have all been anxious to watch her play in high school.  Sadly, Judy only got to see Riley's freshman year.  I know Judy was watching the games last night, and that she was smiling big when we beat Chambers.  :) 
    On the way to the gym last night, I was explaining to Gavin why everyone was wearing pink.  When I told him how the girls wrote Judy's name on their fingernails, he was confused.  He doesn't remember Judy at all, which breaks my heart.  I remember the last time I took the boys to see Judy at Grandma Rita's house that July.  I remember them giving her big hugs as we left, never dreaming that would be the last time.  And now, they have no memory of her.   I wonder at what age kids start their memories.  I have two distinct memories from my Kindergarten year, but that's my earliest memory.  Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Smith both died when I was 7 years old, and I have many memories of them.  I remember the peppermint smell of their apartment in Clearwater.  I remember Grandma Smith letting me look through her box of costume jewelry.  I remember how Grandpa Smith was a great artist, and drew me the perfect horse.  I remember visiting them all the time and the one time that 3-year Nate pulled the fire alarm in their apartment building.  :)  I also remember visiting Grandpa Smith in the hospital, and watching the helicopter take off as he was life-flighted from Neligh.  We spent a lot of time with them when we were little, because my Mom was so close with them.  I have never asked my brothers if they remember them at all.  Nate was only 3, so I doubt it, but Travis would have been 5 when they died.  It just makes me sad to think about children who have lost their parents at such a young age, and how if something were to happen to me now, my boys wouldn't remember me.  Another reminder to take care of myself, live a healthy life, and slow down.