30 Days of Me - 07

Day 7 - A picture of someone or something that has had the biggest impact on you

This one was easy and hard. Easy because I knew who the picture would be. Hard because, well, it is.

This is Alynn. This picture was taken on the night we were going to a fancy restaurant to celebrate her graduation from university.

Background: My dad has one brother. Both my dad and his brother had all female progeny. I am the oldest. Alynn was the youngest. Alynn had the brightest smile, and a great attitude. Being around her made me happy to know her. We weren't that close growing up, mostly because I was a fair bit older that her. That changed when she went to university. The school she chose was only about an hour away from where I was living. She used to come and spend weekends. I really got to know her in the years she was in uni, and I really loved and admired the woman she was becoming.

In 2004, she was killed in an accident. One minute she was there, and the next gone. It hit the family really hard. It hit me really hard. She was 24, she had a boyfriend who loved her, and she was going places. Then she was gone from our lives.

I still miss her. Every year when her birthday comes around, I get a little quiet and reflective. Every day I see her picture and I miss her.

Her death was a real motivator for me. It grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and shook me around. I realized that instead of just thinking about doing something I should just do it. As a result, I try to make decisions that promote a better life for me. Sometimes I'm even successful at it. It's what got me to slip the chains of my safe life and move out into the world.

I still miss you, Alynn. xx