OT: Younger sister's BD
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OT: Younger sister's BD
Hello, good folk of SR. Today would have been my younger sister's 43rd birthday. She died of breast cancer at 37, barely over a year from diagnosis to her last day on earth. I'd like to make a little testimonial to her here, if I may.
She was quite a gal--an elementary school teacher in the inner city of Milwaukee, who did her best for kids coming from a variety of tough backgrounds. She was even a scoutmaster in Boy Scouts, as there were simply no men willing to take on the job for that troop!
She had her own tough row to hoe, being born w/a congenital hip defect that necessitated years and years of surgery, reconstructions, repeated breaking of the femur to reset it, and after all of that, still being left w/a lot of pain and a limp that was moderate on good days and severe when she was tired or the pain was worse.
As a little kid, she was in waist-length casts on and off for years. The doc said we should make a wagon or cart for her, as she'd not be able to get around on her own. Within days of the first cast, she was learning to pull herself up on the kitchen cabinets and wainscoting of the house and would "clunk" back and forth on her cast to get where she wanted to go. Once, my then-teenage brother was measuring his biceps (wrestler at the time) and when we measured my sis's, too, hers were only a little smaller, from all that pulling herself up!
I had long hair during most of the years she was little, and she loved to brush it and fix it different ways, and called me her "lion." If she was out of the cast at the time, I'd give her "lion rides." When I was in college, she made me a paper mache lion which I treasured. I refurbished it and gave it back to her when she was in treatment for her cancer. Now that she's gone, I have it again, as well as a little lion pin that she gave me.
She (and I) were targets of my stepfather/her father for sexual abuse as kids. She spoke out about it soon after it began. I waited nearly 30 years. She was braver than me.
I always thought we'd have more time, that we could do more things together and have a chance to get to know each other better as adults. We didn't.
She is missed by so many and made such a difference while she was here.
She was quite a gal--an elementary school teacher in the inner city of Milwaukee, who did her best for kids coming from a variety of tough backgrounds. She was even a scoutmaster in Boy Scouts, as there were simply no men willing to take on the job for that troop!
She had her own tough row to hoe, being born w/a congenital hip defect that necessitated years and years of surgery, reconstructions, repeated breaking of the femur to reset it, and after all of that, still being left w/a lot of pain and a limp that was moderate on good days and severe when she was tired or the pain was worse.
As a little kid, she was in waist-length casts on and off for years. The doc said we should make a wagon or cart for her, as she'd not be able to get around on her own. Within days of the first cast, she was learning to pull herself up on the kitchen cabinets and wainscoting of the house and would "clunk" back and forth on her cast to get where she wanted to go. Once, my then-teenage brother was measuring his biceps (wrestler at the time) and when we measured my sis's, too, hers were only a little smaller, from all that pulling herself up!
I had long hair during most of the years she was little, and she loved to brush it and fix it different ways, and called me her "lion." If she was out of the cast at the time, I'd give her "lion rides." When I was in college, she made me a paper mache lion which I treasured. I refurbished it and gave it back to her when she was in treatment for her cancer. Now that she's gone, I have it again, as well as a little lion pin that she gave me.
She (and I) were targets of my stepfather/her father for sexual abuse as kids. She spoke out about it soon after it began. I waited nearly 30 years. She was braver than me.
I always thought we'd have more time, that we could do more things together and have a chance to get to know each other better as adults. We didn't.
She is missed by so many and made such a difference while she was here.
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