I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about ‘Aunt Bunny’, otherwise known as my best friend Steph. The nickname comes from Eddie Murphy’s standup, if you aren’t familiar there’s always Google. When I was 12 years old and in my first month or so of junior high school in West Virginia, I met one the most amazing people I’ve ever met. Luckily she approached me first because I was extremely shy; she bounced over to me and asked where I ate lunch. Thank God I overcame my shyness and answered her; as Babcia says, “Open your mouth and speak up”. Almost 39 years later, we’ve weathered almost everything imaginable between us, and I couldn’t have done it without her.

Have you ever met someone who just seems to exude light and love and happiness? That’s Bunny. She’s also a little (a lot) demented which is why we hit it off immediately. My head and my heart are so full of memories that I don’t know how to start. I will try.

Through junior high and high school, we were inseparable. We laughed constantly, sharing a similar sense of humor. We sang… oh how we sang. We both have a passion for music and singing and we harmonized perfectly. Trust me, we’re good. We sang on our bikes, we sang walking through the park (almost daily), we sang at school, we sang at night during sleepovers. We sang together and we sang with my family; my dad and my uncle Dave both shared our passion for singing. We wrote silly songs together and perfomed them while walking around town. We walked EVERYwhere, singing and talking and laughing the entire time.

After high school we both moved away for a year or so, but we both returned at the same time and were elated to be together again. We spent a lot of time at a little place called Gumby’s. Yes, we’re “Gumby’s Trash”. How many nights we danced until dawn, I can’t say. One magical night we were live on the mic singing “Take Me Home Country Roads” to the entire bar – yes, we even sang at Gumby’s. If those walls could talk… but I’m kinda glad they can’t in all honesty. Suffice it to say we were the generation before social media. Draw your own conclusions. There were other nights riding around in that old white jalopy of hers. One night she pulled into our driveway to pick me up and her front bumper was hanging on by a thread on one side. My dad jumped up and fastened it back to her car with a wire coat hanger so that we could be on our way. The entire car leaned to one side, but it ran and it took us on many adventures.

Then came Lindy. I was coming out of a failed relationship (and engagement) when I found out I was pregnant. Bunny and her entire family were there for me through it all, alongside my own family. They moved me out of the apartment I’d shared with Lindy’s donor. I say donor because from the start we knew that Bunny was Lindy’s ‘real’ father. It was the longest and best relationship I’d ever had with another human being, how could she not be the father of my child? We decided that she was/is, and that was that. To this day, when I say “your father and I”, Lindy knows that I mean Bunny. Steph was there with me through the pregnancy; we lived together. She was with me at the hospital, and she was there when I came out of the anesthesia (I’d had an emergency C-section) holding my hand. “It hurts”, I winced at her. She said, “They won’t give you anything for pain until you’re wide awake. You need to hold your eyes open.” I said that I couldn’t. She pushed up my eyelids and yelled at the nurse in the room, “She’s awake!” The nurse looked at me, and said ok, and went to get me something for the pain. Bunny is, of course, Lindy’s Godmother. We raised Lindy together. I did eventually marry and he adopted Lindy as his own. He is Lindy’s true father. But Aunt Bunny was the cool aunt, the playmate, the fun adult to be around. Lindy grew up having an alternate world of make-believe and pure silliness which I’m so grateful for. All the kids in my family and in hers, love their Aunt Bunny. She’s a kid magnet because her heart is as playful and as open as theirs.

Bunny’s mother, Earleen, is a beautiful soul and that probably explains where Bunny gets it. Mine and Steph’s friendship extends beyond just ourselves, but our families are also intertwined. A few years ago when my dad was battling cancer, I couldn’t be there to help out as much as I’d have liked. No matter, Earleen came to the rescue. Without any lengthy conversations about it, she jumped in and began taking my parents to doctor appointments, chemo treatments, and everything in between. This was no easy task as my dad was weak from the cancer and needed help, and my mom has lost some of her mobility as well. Earleen took on this responsibility gladly. I can never repay her for all she’s done for them. She is my other mother, and is a strong, beautiful lady that I will always look up to. And if you haven’t seen her doing yardwork in her bikini top, you are missing out. (That’s for you Steph).

Bunny has had her own struggles with health, heartbreak, and all the things that life throws at us. She has known loss. She faces each instance so gracefully and with an inner peace that many never find. She is an old soul with a huge, beating heart. If someone needs a friend, she is there. If someone needs a few dollars to get through, she finds it in her wallet and gives it with no strings attached. If someone is down, she lifts their spirits. If someone is on the fringe, she includes them and makes them welcome. Everyone loves her, and it is no wonder. I wish I could be more like her, and the older I get the more I try. She is positivity and light in a world that needs it more than ever. I am so proud to call her my friend.

I don’t think that a soulmate necessarily has to be a love interest. I think that love transcends labels and just is; we cannot name it and we cannot contain it. Steph is my soulmate. She is the person that I was meant to cross paths with in this life. She is my spirit guide. She is my person.

Thank you Aunt Bunny, thank you for just being who you are and for sharing yourself with the world.