The Power of Words

I think sometimes people need to have what I like to call a "filter."  You know those people I'm talking about, they pretty much say what they're thinking without thinking about how their words come out.   Words can be used to tell someone how great you look or they can be used to criticize how you look.  My aunt (who I absolutely 200% adore, admire and love with all of my heart) lost one of her adult children in March of this year.  It wasn't that long ago that my aunt lost her husband (my uncle) and her mother-in-law (my grandmother).  I can't even wrap my mind around what that must be like.  My aunt is one of the strongest women I know and I get a lot of my strength from her.  She told me something the other day that just about broke my heart.  My cousin (her daughter) is one of a twin.  I grew up with my twin cousins along with their younger brother.  Neither of my dad's siblings had children, so I only  have those first cousins.  They  lived in another state from me growing up, but we tried hard to get together with them for holidays and other special occasions.  I treasure my phone calls with my "Auntie."  I like to carve time out of my day (our calls are not short, the last one was over 1 1/2 hours)!!!!  She and I talk about all kinds of  things.  We were talking about her daughter that passed away and she told me that when my cousin and her  sister were little someone told her, "well, I can always tell you apart, you're the heavier one."  What a thing to tell a young girl!  Girls from a young age care so much about how they look.  That comment (which I'm pretty sure wasn't meant to be mean and hurtful)  stuck with my cousin and bothered her for quite a long time after that.  She was one of the most beautiful, amazing people inside and out. I miss her all the time.  I was able to fly back  for her funeral/memorial service. I told my aunt at the time,  I would have crawled there if I had to, there was absolutely NO WAY I was going to miss that.  My cousin left behind a daughter who is growing into a very mature young woman.  My cousin would have been  so proud of her.  I like to  hope that my blog posts and the words contained within them are always positive and caring.  Words can be so powerful, use them wisely.