Our 100th post!

Hard to believe, but this marks our 100th post here on Sprik Space since September 2006!! While I doubt we've kept y'all as entertained as we've been by blogging, I sincerely hope that something here has interested you over the past 18 months.

With this being a historical post here on Sprik Space, we want to pay tribute to a very significant lady, Auntie Dee. Last weekend, we had a lot of fun helping her family and friends pay tribute to her for her 75th birthday. Her son & daughters did a wonderful job putting together a special evening for such a remarkable woman.

Brian wrote the following piece that was included in a book of memories presented to her on that night:

To many, she is Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandma or simply Dolores… to me she has always been Auntie Dee. By generational order, she is my Great Aunt; great is a word rarely used to designate her, more a term to describe her. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of trips to Auntie Dee’s in Chicago… reading the Sun Times on Sunday morning while snacking on Dunkin’ Donuts Munchkins, watching Cubs games with Harry Caray’s unmistakable commentary, or spending Christmases as a young boy with family in Chicago. And who could forget the year that all I wanted was a “caskle” for Christmas, and the overjoyed amazement and pronouncement of receiving that very gift. A “caskle” was a Fisher Price Castle to those of you older than 4 years.

Spending time at Auntie Dee’s or Corey Lake with extended family during the summers shaped my perception of what family means. Time shared with her family also shaped boyhood dreams of living in Chicago, especially after seeing the Sears Tower for the first time at the age of 13. Those dreams later became reality after graduating college. It was reassuring to know that family was so close, having moved to the big city away from the only place I had known as home. Not many people have the closeness of extended family we have; Auntie Dee would not have it any other way. A woman who has been the closest thing I have to a grandmother since the passing of my own grandparents. Her love has no limit nor knows no boundaries. That generosity was no more felt while Aimee and I were making plans for our life together. She provided a warm, loving place to stay during a stressful, transitional time in our lives while we looked for a place we could call home after our wedding.

Traveling all the way to Denver to be with Aimee and I on a brisk, sunny day in December for our wedding meant so much to us. On a day that vows were shared and a new branch of family was formed, her presence reminded us of the love and sanctity of family… something for which we will be eternally grateful.

We love you, Auntie Dee!