A Gift is Gone

My sister, my wonderful sister who lived in poverty but shared the few nickels that found their way into her purse, died this morning. I mourn her death out of selfishness that she will no longer be the person to brighten my day when I'm down. But at least I know she won't have to suffer anymore through hellish episodes of chest pain and respiratory distress. I will miss her until death takes me.

Unlike me, she was a believer in a supreme being and she tended to have attachments to the church. If she was right and I am wrong, there are angels singing today in celebration that one of the most generous, giving, caring people who ever walked the earth is in their midst. If I am right, then her passing is simply a jolt to this earth and to the countless people for whom she sacrificed so many material things so that those she called her friends would have just a little something.

She fed people she didn't know, she gave up her bed for people who needed to sleep, she battled the IRS and Social Security Administration for people who couldn't do on their own, but desperately needed an advocate. And they had that advocate in my sister. She was, in many ways, the Molly Ivins of our family; she gave people hell if they deserved it, especially when they had mistreated someone else...the underdog was her pet!

I have lost a very dear friend and a person I loved very, very much. Since learning of her death just two hours ago, it has been damn near impossible for me to keep my composure. After the necessities of dealing with death are behind us, I plan to arrange for a celebration of her life that I wish I'd done while she was alive to see how much she has meant to so very many people.

Goodbye, Mimi. We love you.