Anya's aunt Karen passed away on Tuesday afternoon after a prolonged battle with uterine cancer. Anya took off of work and school on Tuesday and made it up to Fort Worth in time to see her aunt one last time, before she passed away 45 minutes later.

Karen had experienced difficulties maintaining consciousness and spent a lot of her last moments with her eyes closed. Anya said that moments before she passed, she opened her eyes and very clearly focused on a spot in the room just above everyone’s heads. Anya remarked that that moment gave everyone a moment of peace during Karen's transition.

Despite their collective and individual pains at the loss, Anya’s family is happy that Karen’s in a better place and is no longer suffering. Anya’s mom and aunt were identical twins, so it’s been extra rough on her as she struggles to come to grips with a life without the physical presence of the one person who’s been there literally her entire life.

I’m flying up to Fort Worth on Friday night to be with Anya and her family. After the service on Saturday afternoon, everyone is driving down to Madisonville, Texas to bury her aunt on their family land that’s been in their family name for well over a hundred years. After leaving Madisonville on Sunday, everyone’s going to go down to Galveston to enjoy the peace that only crashing waves and excited children can provide.

Please keep Anya and Karen’s family in your prayers.