Erin Napier has announced the tragic death of a family member. While most won't know who she was, they'll definitely have heard of her name - because the HGTV star named her daughter, Mae, after her Aunt Marilyn.
The HGTV star opened up about her tragic passing in a post on social media, per Yahoo!Entertainment. There, she wrote, "My Aunt Mae Mae passed away today. If any of you met her when she worked as a greeter at our stores, you did not forget her."
"Her gift was loving people," she continued. "Loving meeting them, talking to them. She worked in retail her entire life and could teach a master class in service."
But to Napier, she was so much more than her job. "She saw my creative gifts and knew exactly how to nurture them, helping raise up a professional artist without even realizing it."
"I hear her laugh in my memory right now, which reminded me of a goose. For the rest of my life I will smell Ivory soap and remember the way she bathed me in her cast iron sink and fed me little ice cream cones with marshmallows and strawberry jam hidden in the bottom."
And then she announced that Aunt Mae Mae had a legacy attached to not only her, but her name. "She was so very special, when my last baby girl was on the way I knew what we would name her. Mae."
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Tributes Poured in for the HGTV Star's Beloved Aunt
Tributes have poured in on social media for the iconic HGTV star's aunt.
"I can only strive to hope that my grandchildren write about me so beautifully one day," one commenter wrote. "What a woman, I am so sorry for your precious loss."
"I'll never see a carrot salad and not think of her," another wrote. "[The photo Erina posted] and the video of her pronouncing Mercantile will always be my favorite."
Another fan recalled meeting Aunt Mae Mae. "I had the pleasure of meeting your Aunt Mae at the Mercantile and yes she met us with a smile. She was a great salesperson also! We [also] saw her again at the Church of Christ... [where] she immediately remembered us."
May she rest in peace.
