MY SISTER'S CHILD

TODAY I RECEIVED A WONDERFUL LETTER FROM MY NIECE DIANE.  DIANE TOLD ME BY WORDS WRITTEN AND WORDS UNWRITTEN, HOW MUCH SHE LOVED ME.

DIANE IS THE CHILD OF MY OLDEST SISTER ALICE.  BUT DIANE IS MUCH MORE THAN A NIECE TO ME.  LET ME TELL YOU THE STORY OF MY SISTER-NIECE AND ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS.

                                                                                     

Diane is only a few years younger than me, but it was enough that I thought of her as just another child.  My mother died when I was seven years old, and I lived alone with my father as all my siblings were older and gone from the home.

I used to spend my summers spending a week or two at each of their homes and played with their children.  I didn't know until the adult Diane told me that she used to really look up to me. 

SHE THOUGHT I WAS THE CAT'S MEOW...

Then all too soon I was a teenager and thought I was to old to play with the kids.  I really don't remember too much of Diane's teen years and certainly not her collage years.

I married very very young and had a child by the time I was eighteen.  Diane and I kinda lost track of each other along the way.

I divorced, remarried and moved to California.  Diane moved to Oregon and met Howard.  They married and had two children.  We met up again when their youngest was two.

They came to visit us and visit Disneyland.  They had Miles and Erin.  Erin was blind since birth and I was amazed at what wonderful parents they were.

                      STRONG

We didn't meet up again for quite a few years.  Then that one special year came and my Husband Jerry and I were going through their state on our way home from a Canada vacation.  I took a chance and called them.  They said come on over just like we had been there yesterday.  We stayed for five days and by the time we left all the years had just melted away and we were kids again.

We were more than niece and aunt, we were

                      SISTERS.

Fortunately Howard and Jerry love each other too and now we make it a point to see each other every year.  We both came home...................

HAVING A PLACE TO GO...IS A HOME.  HAVING SOMEONE TO LOVE...IS A FAMILY.  HAVING BOTH IS A BLESSING.
                 ...REDFOX