3. Speaking of her mother, here are some things that Erin kept after her mom passed. There’s a cigar box full of some of her mother’s jewelry, there’s a wedding picture of her mother back when she married Erin’s dad, and there’s her mother’s pocketbook, with all her IDs and that sort of thing. When Pam died, it was really hard on Erin. It was 2010 and Erin was 24 years old. Pam committed suicide after a long battle with health issues and a hard breakup with the man she’d been dating at the time. I remember lying there in the guest bedroom of her grandmother’s house, Erin crying for hours, and I wanted more than anything to be able to do something to help her with this pain, but all I could do was lay there with her, rubbing her back and telling her it was going to be okay. Of course it hurt Erin a lot, with just the simple fact that she would never see her mother again, plus the guilt that inevitably comes from suicide where people wish they’d done more and had been better to the victim. Pam had left Erin a note telling her that she was sorry and that she just couldn’t bear the struggle anymore. As hurt as Erin was, she understood that Pam had been suffering; we’d talked about it many times since then and I believe that Erin had forgiven her mother for what she’d done. Still, the loss had a tremendous effect on Erin and she’d always kept her mother in her heart after that. When it happened, we went out to Florida where Pam had died and I remember going through her mother’s place with Erin, collecting her things and deciding what Erin wanted to keep. We drove her mother’s car back with us to LA and Erin drove that car for the next 5 years. We’d always planned to make it to Lake Havasu to scatter her mother’s ashes but never got a chance to. When Erin died, I spread both her and her mother’s ashes together in the same spot at Lake Havasu, which I thought Erin would’ve liked. The below pictures are just a few of the things that Erin kept of Pam’s and I think they show how much she meant to Erin, which is why I’m keeping them, myself.
What a beautiful way to honor Erin on her birthday. Thank you for continuing to keep her spirit alive and always sharing your love for her. Your words are genuine and thoughtful, something she always appreciated. The coffee mugs were a Christmas gift from me, with the thought you guys would each have one. She could not wait to use them, Lol. The pure vulgarity alone was enough to make that mug her favorite! Love you Aaron, I think of you, and her every day. -Jen
Thank you, Jen! I thought they were a gift and I’m happy to know they were from you. I’m keeping her vulgarity alive and still using that mug these days. I love and think about you, too, and I know that she lives on in your heart, so thank you for keeping her spirit alive, as well.