My Sister

My 2 sisters.

As most know I lost my middle sister in May of 2013.  She was exactly 4 years to the day older than me, so she died way too young.  We grew up very close and were close as adults.  She never married so my children were like hers.  Our family stayed close because we wanted to and it was also important to be close so she was not as lonely as she could have been.    She and I have an older sister.  She left home to go to college when I was only 5, then married when I was 6.  I always looked up to her, even had her up on a pedestal.  Over the years it was sometimes hard because I never felt like she cared much for me.  That was obviously not the case at all, but just my own insecurity.  This blog post is to somehow honor the great sister I have and have had for all my life.

As a young girl with Mother.

 I have never known quite how to communicate with her but after the last couple years together we have that figured out and I am so grateful for my sister.  We watched our beloved Jetta suffer and die, quite rapidly and could do nothing but try to give her her wishes and keep her comfortable.  We then had to figure out how to take care of our aging mother who was taken care of by Jetta most of the time.  My sister took the bulk of that by having her live in her home for the last almost 2 years of her life.  My mother was always a beautiful woman, not just my opinion but many others.  The last couple of years before Jetta got sick she was unable to keep up with her own personal care.  When she went to live with my sister, she got her dignity back and she looked and smelled pretty everyday!  She was so pleased and my sister is to thank for that.  What an amazing gift it was to give someone their dignity back.  Living with my mother was not easy in her rapid decline.  She was extremely fearful of being alone and falling.  It was just the dementia.  She kept so much of her wit about her but had "times".  My sister was there during those times to reassure her that she was loved and cared for.  When my sister wasn't there, her wonderful husband , my brother-in-law, was her constant companion.  They watched basketball and whatever other sport together.  We can not forget her wonderful care-giver, Carol.  She bridged the gap and was a real member of our family.  But all this was only possible because my sister was orchestrating the whole thing from her long distance job and when she was home.  It was hard to be traveling and also keeping the home place running smoothly and Mother comfortable.  But she did it!  You see, she is just like that, she is amazing in so many ways, it is hard to put it into words.  To say I admire and respect her is an understatement.  But I can also say, it is nice to have a great relationship with her.  I love her dearly and am so grateful that we had the same mother and father.

Her birthday is soon and I want to honor her in this small way.  I don't have a ton of pictures of her but here are a few.

Sister,  I love  you!

At my wedding with Jetta.

We were being "artistic" with our picture.

Her daughter and Jetta, cooking.

I got my inspiration for cooking from my sister.  She is a great cook!

With our "Mama Shorty", our father's mother.

Before she went away to college.

At Mother's 90th birthday celebration.

At my daughter's wedding with her daughter and her newborn daughter and Jetta.

She  made the floral arrangements for the wedding.  She is also good at that!  And gave her time to help me pull off  one of the most beautiful weddings ever.  Not only did she do flowers but she helped with food and decorations, of course Jetta was front and center also.  They both fell right into place by my side and all I can say is without them I could not have done it.  She did the same thing for my son's wedding this last fall, in spite of having our elderly mother in her full care.

Daughter's wedding

Son's wedding

Mother and Carol

Sister and BIL, as I was moving to Colorado.  I have been back about once a month since then and have had some of the best times with my sister.  She has recently retired, or graduated from work as I call it, onward to better things.  She will do amazing things in her retirement, that's just my sister!  

She gave Mother a wonderful 90th birthday party with her lady friends.

4 generations

Beach time

That's all, folks.  

As you can see, my sister is well loved and there is a reason, she is well deserving and loves big, herself!