Every year, Virginia Dassaw makes new additions to her "obituary wall."
The weathered memorial has grown by six in the last four years with the life stories of both her parents, three siblings and niece.
The obituaries are pasted next to that of her sister, who died on Christmas Eve in 2002. She left behind six boys — five of whom have intellectual disabilities — for Dassaw, or "Auntie Gin," to raise as her own, in addition to her own son.
"It's been an adventure; so much love in this, as well as grief," the 64-year-old Dassaw said. "Now, 16 years later, everything is OK. It hasn't been easy."
One of those struggles, Dassaw said, has been transportation. The single "auntie" of seven has had to teach her special-needs nephews — now 26, 28, 30, 32 and 34 — how to use the county bus system after her old, used cars would leave her stranded.
When the boys were students, their teachers had to step in, taking them to and from school when Dassaw didn't have a way to. And when their bikes were stolen, the school administrators raised funds to buy new ones.
But that all changed when a new Honda Odyssey minivan pulled into her driveway in West Eureka. Fla. Leaping out of the minivan was former Miami Marlins outfielder Juan Pierre, who handed a sobbing Dassaw the keys to her surprise new ride.
With her face buried in her palms, the weeping woman leaned over, lifted her hands in the air and pinched herself.
