"Crazy", lovely, beautiful aunty Ahne

Hello Everyone,

I'm sorry for the delay on the updates.  The past few days have been a bit of a whirl wind.  A few days ago, my aunty Ahne, a lovely, caring and amazing woman was taken from us.  She had been in Nicaragua for the past few months helping her son Nigel build a dream that she has had for her whole life.  From the time Ahne was young, all she wanted was a little piece of paradise with something on it to call her own.  Her son Nigel found her the piece of paradise and we were in the process of creating something on it to fulfill her lifelong dream.

Coming down here was the first time I had had a real chance to get to know my aunty and cousin.  Before I knew her, all I ever knew was that she was my "crazy" aunty Ahne.  I know now that the label that I once had for her, only scratched the surface of my amazing aunty.  Over the past 4 weeks I had a chance to hear her stories and wisdom, her dreams and her fears and all of the tid bits and rants in between.  My aunty, at an early age, had been hit by a drunk driver while walking home.  She broke/shattered over 30 bones in her body and was unconscious for three days.  She remained in critical condition for several days but was strong enough to pull through.  After the accident my aunt was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and lived a large portion of her life in constant pain.  My aunty was one of the strongest people I've ever known, she had the heart to make it through any and all of the adversities that life threw her way.  Five or so years ago my aunty was diagnosed with Hepatitis C that was contracted from a blood transfusion with tainted blood.  The Hepatitis devastated my aunty's health forcing her to spend most of the last few years in bed.  Within the last two years, she applied for a grant to get treatment for her Hepatitis.  She was turned down for treatment several times due to the fact that her condition did not quite meet the requirements of the grant.  The requirements of the grant being that your liver had to be at least 51 % dead in order to qualify.  Ahne was 49 %, they told her that there was nothing that they could do for her until she met the conditions of the grant.  For the first time she said, she did not want to give up... but it didn't look like she had a choice.  Her friend invited her on a trip to Hawaii during which time her doctor applied for the grant for a third time and managed to win the board over in her favor.  When Ahne returned from Hawaii she started the trial Chemo-Therapy immediately.

The Chemo-Therapy for Hepatitis C is extremely hard on your body and for many people who go through it, the Chemo-Therapy is too much and they die from the effects.  My aunty was one of 8 people who did the Chemo-Therapy in this particular trial.  She was the only one out of the 8, who made it through the Chemo-Therapy.  She was a very rare success story to the Hep C Chemo-Therapy trial, my aunty, the strongest woman I've ever met.  She beat Hep C, but she had spent the last 2 years bed ridden and sick beyond measure from the Chemo-Therapy.

This November, my cousin told her that he was going to Nicaragua to build their dream and he wanted her to come.  Ahne got herself out of her bed and got on a plane to Nicaragua.  She hadn't been out of her house or bed for two years, but was set on coming down and getting healthy.  She set out some goals when she was down her and accomplished every one of them.  She wanted to get back into shape, she wanted to help her son build their dream, she wanted to get healthy, she wanted to stop smoking and she wanted to take herself off of the pain medication that she had been taking for her arthritic pain for the past 9 years.  She did all of these amazing things while she was down here.  As she got healthier, Ahne was up at the crack of dawn and would walk up to the property for 6 am.  Even when everyone was driving the truck up to the property, she would walk.  You couldn't give her a ride if you wanted to, she was walking and that is all there was to it.  She would work hard for 2 or 3 hours on her project, the main path around the house, and would come back to the house and rest.  The path that she built is absolutely amazing.  It has so much character and is so beautiful, pictures don't do it justice.  If you are capable, you should try to come and walk Ahne's path.  It takes you from the drive way of the property to a bench with the best view on the whole property.  It is amazing.  Ahne's path.  It has a lovely ring to it.  It's so amazing for so many different reasons, her path not only to the best view on the property.. but her path back to a normal life.  Her path from pain and suffering, her path to her dreams.  Her path.

One of the last conversations I had with my aunty Ahne, she told me that she had escaped death 13 times.  She talked about how every time she made it through, she would go back to her crazy "counter-culture" lifestyle of partying and having fun.  But this time was different she told me, this time she wanted to go home and make a difference.  There was a reason that she was here.

"There must be some reason, some purpose that I am here." she said.

 She knew she had a purpose, a reason that she was still here.  She wanted to learn how to use computers and she wanted to go back to school.  She wanted to be a nurse and foremost, she wanted to write her stories into a book.  I wish I knew all of her stories, all of her experiences so that I could have written this better... but I only know what I got to learn about this amazing woman during my stay here.  Through the past few days, those words have gone through my head so many times.  "There must be some reason, some purpose that I am here."

When news of Ahne's passing reached the people of the small town that we are in (Gigante), everything in the town stopped.  Everyone in the town came together to help, to grieve, to support.  All of the petty differences, the misunderstandings between people, the animosities, all of it no longer matters.  Everyone in this town was touched by Ahne, everyone who ever met Ahne couldn't help be being touched by her.  Her personality was infectious and whether she made you feel awkward or not... she didn't care.  That was her, that was Ahne, take it or leave it she would say.  The outpouring of support and love shown by everyone in this town has been unbelievable...  this town has something special.. I can't put my finger on it.. but I think it was Ahne's purpose.  To bring people together, to make people realize how amazing life can be when you live it.  To show people how to let go, to help people let go, to help people be themselves and furthermore to show what people can do when they have heart and a passion for life.  I love my aunty Ahne, and I will miss her so much.  If you're reading this blog right now, you likely know who I am and I more than likely know you as well.  I want you all to know how much you all mean to me and that I love all of you with all my heart.