Cigarettes, Wine, and a Broken Heart
My oldest sister Pat was always my voice of reason, and she always knew if something was bothering me. I loved sitting in her kitchen eating whatever she had made for me as a meal. She was my safe place, a comfy hug in a person. I also had a positive effect on her because something about my laughter was contagious for her. I would start to laugh, she would giggle and say, “No Jen! Don’t start!” then she would laugh so hard she couldn’t breathe.
My sister loved people and parties. She enjoyed listening to everyone’s stories and sharing the gossip later. She loved life, but an unfortunate series of events in her life, and some bad decisions about how to cope with these events wreaked havoc in her life.
My sister and brother-in-law were married for thirty years. At first, my father did not approve of my brother-in-law, and he was forbidden to see my sister. They eloped and my father told my mother that neither of them was allowed in our house ever again. It was several years and two children later before he agreed to allow my sister back into our house. It seemed like a beautiful love story to me. Two people who overcame challenges to be together.
After twenty years of working in hospital administration, my sister mentioned regularly that she was exhausted and wished she could retire, but she had to wait five more years to receive…
