The Loss of Aimee

It's Sunday. Had things progressed as expected, then I would be leaving school about now, walking down the street to catch a tram home, avoiding dust and hiding my light eyes behind sunglasses. I would be heading home for an early dinner, my weekly grocery shopping, and then my  Sunday skype date with mom and dad. But no, this Sunday it is a rainy morning in Charlotte. The sky is dark, and I haven't seen real rain in months. The last place i expected to be at this moment is in Charlotte, NC,  and a newspaper displaying the angelic face of my precious Aimee laying beside me. The headline next to me reads "School Mourns Teacher After Fatal Wreck."  I go in and out of moments of belief and disbelief at what is going on. Thursday night, I received the horrible news that my Aimee had gone to be with our Lord after a head on collision with a truck less than a mile from work. Within hours, someone booked me ticket to leave Cairo for a few days, and come home to Charlotte, to grieve properly with Aimee's family, and our friends. For the past couple of years, Aimee and I grew very close, and were inseparable.  Moving to Cairo meant leaving her, and leaving her was something I struggled with. We talked constantly during my time there, and I always got butterflies on the days we were scheduled to skype. Oh how I missed my angel, and was thankful for the technology which allowed me to see her, laugh with her, cry with her, and feel as if I was sitting in the room with her. We were scheduled to skype this weekend. I have been racking my brain trying to remember what our last conversation was about, and although I cannot remember, I do remember one thing. She always ended every conversation on Skype telling me she loved me, and then she would tilt her head, I would tell her i loved her too, missed her, and couldn't wait for the day I could show her around Egypt, because i knew she would LOVE it. Aimee always did her best to love people "well". That was a phrase she used with me a lot. She would say, "Christy, how can I love this person well?" It wasn't enough for Aimee to just love them, she wanted to love them the best way she could. She was willing to give of herself to love them as God would, even when it was hard for her. Aimee's love language was "words of affirmation" and she always expressed what was on her heart. I pray that through her death, people would learn the difference of loving people, and loving people well. We need to all take Aimee's life as an example of how to live to love people, how to be authentic in our love, and how to always be sincere. You knew if Aimee said something, she meant it.  I am so thankful for the time I had Aimee in my life. God blessed me with a month of traveling Peru with Aimee. She fell in love with the people, the mountains, and the jungles the way I did. How thankful I was to share that part of my heart with her. I miss Aimee so much, but she would want me smiling right now, and so I am choosing to rejoice in knowing she is in a wonderful place, sitting with her Father, and at peace. R.I.P. Aimee  Powell...you are missed.