Good Morning!

I did not drink or taste any wine over the weekend but I had a roller coaster of life kinda weekend. This blog might go in a crazy direction but so does life and if you read all the way through, perhaps you will see that my life is not so much different than anyone else. OK so let me first back up and set up a few facts so you can better understand this story.

My father’s younger brother, My Uncle Fred and his wonderful wife, my Aunt Donna live in Ann Arbor, MI and I have not seen them in person in about 8-10 years. You know how life just gets busy and you don’t take the time to stop and go visit or pick up the phone. They have a son who just graduated from college as an engineer and My Aunt still teaches school, 2nd graders. My uncle is retired and he worked for University of Michigan and he is a carpenter.

Now you know the relationship….Here is where the story starts…remember back when I was trying to get cast on season II The Winemakers on PBS? Well, I made a video and sent it out to my family and friends and ask them to watch it and then send the video out to their family and friends…the person with the most original views, got cast on the reality show. ( Yes, I won and yes the show is filming the finale sometime in August, so this fall or winter you can watch the show on PBS). If you want to see the video, go to www.youtube.com and in the search area type in Tammi Ramsey audition.

My Aunt Donna and Uncle Fred sent out the video to friends and family and Donna’s sister Jackie Quick from Dallas, TX wrote to me and said she loved the video and we became Facebook buddies. The more I learned about Jackie the more I liked her. She was married to Steve and they had adopted a small girl named Ali from China and Jackie retired as a Human Resources/Benefits expert for American Airlines. Steve is an engineer.

After conversations with my Uncle, I found out years back Jackie was diagnosed with lung cancer and she was in remission. Jackie would post cleaver and witty comments and always had a funny story about Ali and or what she was doing that day. She wrote to me before I headed to France to shoot the episodes for the Winemakers, to wish me luck and she wrote after I was named the apprentice winemaker position in Chile for Lapostolle Wines, and said you will learn so much. She was funny and encouraging and even had invited us to Dallas sometime.

Life got busy on my end and I watched Jackie’s posts and several weeks ago, I noticed my uncle and his wife were headed to Dallas to visit Jackie, Steve and Ali. The news was not good and Jackie had been put in the hospital and cancer was in her brain. I was so sad and I prayed and prayed and held their family in my heart and she passed away last week. 51 and beautiful and gone too early.

When we drove up to to Dallas to surprise my uncle and aunt, I had a heavy heart, but I also had a heart full of gratitude for Jackie and what an impact she has had in my life. Weather, Jackie ever knew it of not, she is part of my journey, I was part of her’s. I was sad my aunt lost her sister and a husband and daughter no longer had Jackie’s physical energy on a daily basis. I to have lost a brother and a father and it leaves deep wounds that you don’t even understand until someday you just “get” it.

After the visitation at the funeral home, we went to get something to eat, Steve, Ali, Uncle Fred, Donna, Rhonda and I. There was something so totally normal about a family having dinner on a Saturday night. Steve and Ali left after they ate, 6 year old’s have no time for an after dinner drink, she wanted to watch Strawberry Shortcake or something way better than sitting in a booth and I am sure Steve just wanted to go home and have a moment to himself.

But the next 30 minutes for me was magic. I got to sit with my uncle and aunt and talk about nothing and everything all rolled into one. I heard family stories from a new perspective, I hear old jokes and gossip and I learned a lot about how my uncle lived and played. I remember my uncle most from when I was a little girl. He was young and would throw me in the air and he has called me TJ since I was a baby. Nobody else calls me TJ and it makes me feel special, like an inside thing only he and I know about.

Jackie, had 100’s and maybe even 1000’s of people she touched over the years and I think I only really have known of Jackie for about 2 years, I can not even imagine how many people she touched and will continue to touch as life moves forward. As I think about what she did for me, without wanting anything in return, she only knew me from a 2 minute video and that I was Donna’s niece on her husband’s side….well…Jackie, you are the perfect example of what I hope to be. I hope I help people reach their dreams, I hope I just take the time to drop a quick email, smile at someone, ask how someone is doing and take the time to listen to the response. I hope I help whenever possible and impact as many friends, family and strangers as possible. I hope to dream big and act bold and I hope when my life is all done, everyone celebrates how I lived. I will rejoice in the fact I “knew” Jackie, to honor her I will take a moment daily and do one more thing that day that will make the world, kinder, happier, gentler and more beautiful…

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi