Just sitting here thinking of my sister, Carol.....
She was my only sibling. She was a beautiful woman.
On April 3rd it will be 16 years since she passed away from complications from kidney cancer. She had found out she had Lupus when she was in her 40's and I think with her supressed immune system and the medication she was on - contributed to her getting kidney cancer. She lived in Florida at the time and I'm in Pennsylvania.
She was 53 years old....
She got married at 16 and I was 4 at the time so growing up it felt like I was an only child. I was spoiled rotten. My mother had had 2 miscarriages between my sister & I - and one after I was born. I was a preemie weighing 4 pds. 2 ounces and they fretted over me for awhile.
As I became a teenager - my sister was more like a Mother to me. My sociopathic mother & I didn't get along very well! I got along wonderful with my Dad, though....
Once I got married at 18 and became a Mom at 19 - my sister & I had more of a sister relationship than mother/daughter.
She was funny & witty!! We had sooo much fun together. I don't think I ever laughed as much as I did when she & I were together. We had a lot of good times and some very silly ones - like when I was in my 30's & she in her 40's - we decided to "wax" our upper lips for the first time! HAHAHAHAHA! During those years - she lived in the same townhouse complex where I did (and still do). She was barely a block down the street from me and we'd see each other almost every day.
She was very intelligent. She was a member of MENSA. While she lived here she was working at a large city hospital and was in charge of their whole computer system. That was at a time I didn't have a computer. Come to think of it - she didn't either!!! At least not in her home but she learned what she needed to know from former jobs and was an ace at it. She needed to keep those computers up & running properly in that hospital.
I will forever miss her....and I look forward to the day we will be together again.
Tags: Memories
Tomorrow it will be 40 years since my Dad passed away. I simply cannot put into words how much I love him - and miss him!
He was an athlete all his life. As a young boy he was marble Champ of the city he lived in. He also played baseball and got to go see Babe Ruth. He was Captain of his High School basketball team & they even "kept" him a year longer so he could stay & play MORE basketball! After all, there were those state championships. As a young man not long out of school he got taken on to a St. Louis baseball farm team.
When I was 10 years old he won one of many golf championships. This one was Allentown City Championship. (He's on the right)
All the local news media was there that day - following these two players to the 18th hole. When my Dad made that last putt - you can't imagine how my heart was ready to jump out of my chest! I was so proud of him.
He was every little girls dream of what she wants in a Dad. He had a great love for me and I have wonderful memories. Too many to list here for you to read.
Although a proud man, he wasn't "prideful" if you know what I mean.
When I was a young girl - he had his own business. It was a toy party plan. Just like tupperware parties in how they "worked" - but they sold toys and different things children would like. During the time he had that business - he discovered his bookkeeper had stolen $40,000 from him over a period of time. This was a LOT of money back in the mid 60's!! Well - to make a long story short - he caught the man stealing money & fired him BUT he didn't press charges against him because the man was married with 4 children and he didn't want the children to have their Dad in jail! He spent the rest of his life trying to make up for that financial loss - and it was HARD.
Here's a picture of me & my Dad on my High School graduation day in June of 1972.
My Dad died the following March (1973). It was totally unexpected. He had always been in good health & just had a physical the week before at our family Doctor. He died at age 49 - three days after having a stroke. I was 18 years old at the time. I can't even put into words how our hearts were broken.
I will forever love him and miss his love, wisdom, and funny wit.
When I, too, leave this earth - after meeting my Heavenly Father - my Dad is the next person I want to see....
Tags: Memories
