Catching Up & Remembering

I try to keep a cards on hand for occasions that come around where a card is needed (i.e. birthday, sympathy, wedding, get well, etc.).  I have several friends birthdays coming to which I discovered my supply is depleted.  Adding to my errands I pulled into the Hallmark Store and restocked.  This is store is part of a strip mall.  They had a wonderful little sitting area across from the strip mall with freshly planted flowers.  I couldn't help but admire the beautiful pansies and tulips.

You can see the pansies clearly.  However, the tulips are there, barely visible.  After taking this first picture of the flowers, I saw another group that show the tulips opened.

I found this grouping where the tulips had just begun to open, starting to come to life.  These pictures don't do justice, the colors were so vibrant.  The pansies were a violet blue and the tulips were a nice rosy pink.

Remembering Cissy

There are dates on our calendars that we will always remember.  Today is my sister's birthday.  Christina (nicknamed Cissy) passed away in 2002 of Cancer at the age of 36.  She was married and did not have children.  We were best friends, even though we are nine years apart.  Growing up, I was her baby sitter.  As the years passed, she was taking my clothes and wearing them without my permission along with other things.  When she was 19, she asked for my expired id.  She cut out my picture and put in hers so she could go to the clubs.  She had dated Ben for five years, he had been married before and afraid of marriage.  Cissy wanted to marry and have children and let Ben know it.  She was ready to move onto a man who wanted the same things she did.  Ben asked her to marry him.  They were married in Vermont in September 1996 where they made their home.  She worked at Dartmouth Medical College in New Hampshire in their IT department.  I'm on the left, her groom, our Mom and our brother, who walked her down the aisle (our father passed in 1975).  I am the oldest of us three children, Cissy the youngest.

Today use to sadden me, now I celebrate my memories.  My only regret is that we didn't spend more time together.  I was married in the late 70s and living in Connecticut while she was still in school.  I had moved back to this area in the early 80s, living and working in Virginia.  She was living in Maryland going to the local community college and going out with her friends.  Our lives had taken different turns.  We occasionally spent time together when we both had time.  In the late 80s, she moved to Virginia and begin working here.  Once, I treated us to a day at the hairdressers, just for fun.  One of my best memories.  It took us the next day to brush out the hair spray and teasing (remember the 80s was "big" hair).

One of Cissy's best assets was her strength.  Our mother passed away in 1999 of heart failure.  Mom had some medical issues which required surgeries.  Cissy was able to help Mom with her bandage changes.  I was the the one who couldn't stomach the sight of blood, much less bandage changes.  When Mom passed, it was Cissy who took over when we began sorting through our mother's belongings deciding who wanted what and what was trash and what was donated.  She supported me through that hard time, even though it was hard on her too.  It was then I learned from her what real strength is.  When the Cancer had made her very ill, she asked I come to Vermont to help her until she passed.  Ben was unable to acknowledge she was terminal.  I took a page from Cissy's book.  I did what I could to help out Ben and make Cissy comfortable until her last breath.

The strength I find in myself to face most anything I attribute to Cissy, who taught me how to accept and move forward with life.  Happy Birthday Cissy, God made us sisters, love made us friends.