WHEN SIBLINGS GROW OLDER…

And still stay the same.

Last year at this time, I wrote about my #2 sister, Fran.

Saturday, December 15, 2007
OH YES, NOW I REMEMBER!

Recently, at Thanksgiving, as we mingled and talked about our lives, I fell back to the many years of our brother-sister relationship, and what it has meant to me. I keep thinking of a photo my Mom has in her den of Fran in her school uniform. She is wearing a white blouse and blue jumper, with the crest of Our Lady Of Lourdes on it. She is wearing a smile and has her typical warmness that is Fran. It was the first picture that made me aware that she was around! Every time I see the photo, it shoots me back to that time, and every time I’ve seen her.

Sandwiched between two sisters growing up, seeing them is like comfort food. It is your roots, a warm room on a cold day, a laugh in the sunshine, and affirmation of who you are. There is a bond, unspoken, but not forgotten. Seeing one of the two is a realization that your siblings and you are home again. We were part of the very lean years growing up. We witnessed a lot.

Fran always was fun to see and talk to. She can laugh at the drop of a dime, and while she laughs and I scramble to pick it up, we can relate to each other. She married someone not unlike herself, Tom. Ever ready with a joke and a wry grin on his face. They make an ordinary day, a holiday.

Fran has the attributes of a big sister, if not in age, then in spirit and good sense. You meet her three children, and you see wonderful people, who will share a laugh, just like Mom or Dad.

A retired schoolteacher, being a teacher was all she ever wanted to be. As children playing together, she was a teacher, and I was the student. We played our roles well. I would play dumb, and she would respond with a smack, or give me a lot of homework. She was my baby sister, so I would amuse her and play along. (OK, I wasn’t playing.)

Years ago, I went to visit my sister-in-law Maureen who lives in Connecticut. We were at some occasion where there were people that I did not know, but were Maureen’s friends. One of them was a gentleman who was a teacher in Connecticut. HE, was selected as ‘Teacher of the year’. He wanted to meet me, because my sister Fran: was the runner up! I think a choice like that is subjective: it should have been her. But, I am her brother, still, I know how she loved to teach.

So I say,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRAN!

Please remember my pals, Joan and DD, and all those who need our prayers.