From Grande Aunt Lisa

Requiem For Our Livibug
I miss Livi. I love(d) Livi. Livi’s my grandniece. I’ve struggled for a couple weeks now, trying to find the right words that would memorialize her properly. Others have done it so eloquently. Every time I sit down to do it I get nauseous and my eyes well up so that I can’t see the screen. I don’t’ want to have to be writing these words in remembrance. I’d rather be reading her a book. My mother, Marmie, should be doing this. Her comments to all the blogs just blow me away. She expresses herself so well. She misses Livi. She love(d) Livi. Livi is her great granddaughter.
Every moment with Livi was a special memory. There weren’t nearly enough of them. I only had one goal every time I would visit that child. It was to make her smile. (The same was true of Emily, when she was a baby J) As has been told before, Livi had to be won over. She didn’t’ just warm up to anyone. It was a challenge for us Pittsburgh folk, because we didn’t get to see her on a regular basis. Every time was like a re-introduction. But the key was to get down on the floor and play with her toys. If you were creative enough, you would peak her curiosity and reel her in. I remember every visit to Dave and Gretchen’s in Indiana would entail the “entourage”, meaning anywhere that Livi went, we went. Usually we would all hang in the living room and Livi would be the center of attention. (I can’t remember any “adult” conversations in our family, once Livi came into it) A lot of the toys there were ones that Emily, Andrew and Aaron had when they were tots. I had no qualms about doing silly things with Livi and the toys, and my reward was her precious little smile.
I feel cheated that we won’t get to know her as she grows up. There are so many things that people wanted to do with her as she grew. What would her interests be? Would she be a brainiac, theatrical, musical, perhaps athletic? With the various talents that Emily and James have, there’s no doubt she would have been gifted. She was already a thoughtful and smart chicklet. You shoulda seen her doing "sign". I wanted to be her eccentric old “Aunt” who takes her for rides on her motorcycle and eats hot wings with her.
Now, Livi’s angelic face peers at me in every room of my house. There are beautifully framed pro shots that Emily and James had given as presents. There are tons of polaroids that I have taken and have cherished and shared with my friends and family. My laptop screensaver is a Livi montage. It makes me smile, it makes me weep. There are sticker posters in my office. These not only contain Elmo, monkeys and Snow White, but I have cut up some of the polaroids of Livi and interspersed her image with them. Too cute! She is indelible this way as she is in our hearts and now so many have her memory inked on their skin. Maybe a lot of people aren’t aware of this, but many in the Allen/Haughery clan have chosen this way to honor Livi - tattoos. I personally have my Livibug on my inner left forearm. This permanent tribute will initiate conversations for years to come about the sweet little girl that graced our lives for such a short, but profound time. Her legacy to us is so hard to put into words, it is an emotion that can only be described as L-O-V-E. The best tribute we can give to her is to keep her in our hearts. That is a given. It would be impossible for her not to be there.
I miss her. I love(d) her. She’s my grandniece - LIVI.
by grande aunt lisa