DIFFERENT

For as long as I can recall, my aunt Toni has been different from anyone else in my life.

Her differences to me though were not physical, and not mental.

​To me, her differences were human... as she was much more than most.
Imagine loving without the fear of rejection

Imagine loving so purely that you never had to comprehend love's opposite

Imagine living each and every day with family and friends at the front of your mind rather than yourself

Imagine the desire to greet everyone that you met with a smile, a touch, a long embrace and a kiss

Toni didn't have to imagine, because her love for life and those that she knew was above everything, very different.

As we lay Toni to rest, I can't help but finally recognize how dramatically different she was from the rest of us, and how beautifully different we all might one day be for having known her.

Goodbye Aunt Toni, and thank you for every single hug, kiss, and glance away from normal that you ever shared with me.

​Burke