Aunt Shirley, You Are Our Everything

You are our everything— honest soul that bathes in light, forgiveness shining on the branch where empathy blossoms like small green leaves. You are kindness woven through the heart, your words a canopy, a sheltering tree— Florida women know your grace in the hush of warm afternoons, the hum of cicadas and the rustle of palmetto leaves. You are there for family, a harbor of joy at the water’s edge, you are there when others close their eyes, and dreams of gentle nights slip into dawn. You are the one who waits— strong with unshakable faith, rooted like oaks in deep sandy soil, you are the calm hand that eases the hurt. Aunt Shirley, your voice rises like a songbird at sunrise, your laughter echoes in the garden, and even the smallest wildflower finds strength in your shadow. You bring honeyed light to every room you enter, and the dusk that lingers in quiet corners is swept away by your mercy. Aunt Shirley, you are the spring that renews our spirits, the river that carries us forward into forgiveness, into grace. Your arms hold the weight of sorrow like a branch in full bloom— your tears fall like rain, but they water the roots of understanding. Aunt Shirley, you are the breath of the woods, the hush of moss, the green leaves that never lose their light— you are the promise that love, like dawn, returns each morning. So we gather here in the hush, to honor the soul that bathes in light, whose kindness is the sun’s mercy, whose empathy is the river’s song, whose forgiveness is the wind’s embrace. Aunt Shirley— you are our everything.