Anthony Stella II

My Uncle Anthony will forever be one of the most central people in my life. We considered each other Father and Daughter for many years and that is something I´m very proud to share with everyone I meet, because the title Uncle really didn´t fit the true nature of our relationship.
As a kid, I would go over to his house almost every weekend to visit my dad who lived with him. His home was the only place that ever really felt like home to me, and it wouldn´t have been that way if it wasn´t for him. One of the first things my sister and I did when visiting was try to make him react in the craziest way possible, because he´s always been the fun goofy uncle. We would say something like, "Look Uncle! There´s a spider on your head!" and he would throw his hands up saying, "Oh my goodness, should I put ketchup on my head and eat it?!" It always blew our minds that he could make our craziest idea, even crazier. That was one of the best things about him, for as long as I can remember, his brain always had a completely different perspective, and it made life so much more interesting or funny. In just the childhood part of my life, he was the only person who really made me feel like I was enough, that I was worth effort and love. I have a very deep passion for making any child in my life feel valued, important, happy, and it´s because of him. Every silly voice I make, every left-field joke, every animated motion, I remember him and how happy I was.

Growing up at almost every holiday gathering, he would join all of us cousins and watch us play video games. He loved family more than anything in the world, especially all of his nieces and nephews. Nothing made him happier than making us laugh by doing something silly, I hope he knows that we felt so much of his unconditional love. He treated us like we were special because to him, we all are and everything about his actions showed us how true that was.

From my late teens to mid-twenties, I was so lucky to live with him and be by his side through everything. My first job, years in college, car, boyfriend, and so many other experiences I got to share with him. He always knew the perfect thing to say when I felt so lost, or like a failure. He would turn me back to the right path, and I would try to help him too. We did everything together. By the time he would ask me if I wanted to go with him somewhere, I was already grabbing my purse ready to go. We always had the same things we´d do when we were home too. Every morning, I would wake up and go to the living room to find him making coffee pumping his arms up saying, "Baby´s awake!" while SpongeBob was playing on the tv. I knew back then I couldn´t be more blessed, but especially now when I remember how it felt, I really think that´s what heaven feels like. He made fixing everything seem so easy, we worked on our cars, computers, and appliances pretty often. He thought paying someone was ridiculous when we can learn ourselves and have that knowledge forever. Almost everything about him was so inspiring, and he didn´t think he had any special abilities.

There will never be enough words, time, emotion, or any other physical thing in reality to explain how special he was because I think my love for him is beyond anything here. It´s taken me almost two weeks to bring myself enough strength to write and feel all of this, but I would do anything for him. I´m accepting that my life has changed and won´t be the same, but I feel at peace knowing he´ll be waiting for me and we´ll do all our same things again. His battle was hard, but I will carry every amazing thing he showed me to everyone I love, because that´s what real love looks like to me. I hope that whoever is reading this, can see at least a glimpse of the significance he had at least my life, but so many others as well.