Aubrien Jimenez died one year ago today. I and many others are still deeply and profoundly impacted by the light she shined. I often contemplate her life, her actions, her family, and the incredible honor I had to be a part of it. Mario, her father, and I met at IMG when he coached my son in 2010. We stayed in contact, and then he joined me in starting Inspiration Academy in 2014. We worked long hours, and Aubrien was always close by, usually waiting for her dad to finish up some work so they could go home. I usually felt bad because she would wait patiently for hours. I don’t think she ever complained; she kept busy with some activity or another. I would engage her in conversation, often out of guilt on my part; she was shockingly alert, engaging, and easy to talk to. She was always so polite and pure that it often made me wonder if she was overly trained in manners. As time passed, I began to realize that she was that simple, pure, and delightful. We had gone on vacations together, be it Fourth of July celebrations or Thanksgiving at a mutual friend's house in Alabama. During these trips, she never forced herself into a conversation or complained but was always engaged when needed with an exquisite sense of humor and contagious laugh. She was passionate about her family, and they shared fandom of the Steelers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the University of Connecticut. She loved fishing, and she loved her birds and would share pictures of birds with you for as long as you could endure.
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️