Desi has been a part of my life, my entire life whether near or far apart we always stayed connected in some way. She always teased that I was the older sister she never had, even though she was 3 years older than me :). It always made me laugh! We were cousins by blood but in spirit we were more than that and I am going to miss her so very, very much.
Together we laughed, we cried, we at times did stupid stuff, we shared our hopes and dreams with each other, we prayed together and were each a shoulder to lean on for the other. We were bonded in a way that is hard to put words to.
Desi came to live with us for a while when we were teenagers. My dad (her Uncle Glen whom she loved dearly) decided she needed to be kept busy. He had this pile of roughly 50 cinder blocks; you know the kind they use to build basements & foundations with. One day he told her he needed them moved, so he showed her where to put them, and she moved every single one. He had her move those blocks what seemed like a dozen times and in the end he had her put them back exactly where he had them in the first place. She was so pissed! She never had to do that again though so she must have learned the lesson he was trying to teach her :).
Years later I was visiting Desi, and she was making Banana Bread for Christmas. Unbeknownst to us her daughter Heather who was roughly 2 at the time had tossed a handful of pennies into the mix. When I got home and cut into my loaf, I found pennies! I called Desi and instead of calling them "pennies from Heaven" we called them "pennies from Heather". I don't think I will ever forget that.
I have so many memories, some good, some bad and some downright ugly. A tapestry of life and not having her a phone call away is going to be more than hard. I love all of you, Bill, DJ, Billy, Amber, Keli, and Heather. All of you were the most important to her in this world. I know that she wasn't afraid of death, she is home now. My prayers and heart are with you.