Some of you may remember my discussing my aunt "C" last year. We received the first news of her illness in early April, followed by a delay in surgery.

I haven't mentioned much about Christine since then, but I never stopped thinking about her. We were thrilled when she went into remission, heartbroken when she relapsed, continued to be proud of her fighting spirit even amid so much pain, and laughed with her positive attitude through it all.

Last week, Chrissie lost her battle with cancer. She suffered a pulmonary embolism on Thursday morning, was put into a coma to help regain her strength, and did not make it through the afternoon.

The shock of it all has been sudden and unexplainable. There are no words to describe the multitude of emotions that rush in and out at any given time.

I haven't been blogging much in a while, as there are so many things going on and I haven't wanted to post any downers. I've made an exception in Chrissie's case. The post is a downer, but her life was truly something worth celebrating. The never-ending flow of family, friends, and neighbors was overwhelming these past few days, and though we all knew it in our hearts, it is more obvious than ever that Christine made an impact on the lives of everyone she knew.

She is and will continue to be loved greatly and missed by us all.