Happy Milestone Birthday, Dear Sister

 

Today, my sister Kathy would have been seventy. On September 1, we received an invitation from her daughter Kristen for a surprise party she was planning when Kathy’s surviving sibs (Tim passed in 2020) all would be in New York and together for the first time since our Mom had passed in 2019.

Kathy was apparently in reasonably good health at that time. By the evening of the seventeenth, she was entering Heaven and being fitted for her wings.

To anyone who knew Kathy, she was a loving and caring person, with a heart and a smile bigger than her entire being. She rarely, if ever, had an unkind word to speak of anyone, even if they had done something to hurt her.  She was, as my brother Tim would say, Switzerland, in a world filled with Russias, Germanys and Chinas. But in reality, she was the Pax Romana personified, looking for a way and the means to keep the peace with her words, deeds and gentle soul.

Even as her eldest brother, I admired this trait in her that she exemplified, to which I could only aspire, and would fail miserably in my attempts to achieve. She was truly an angel among us and was not recognized by us who knew her until she was gone forever.

So, today, as she sits at the Table of Good and Plenty with our Mom, Dad, brother, and other family and friends who passed before her, she is the Guest of Honor as she celebrates her seventieth birthday, a milestone here on Earth for sure and her first birthday in Heaven.

One last point I would add about Kathy…

She always had a smile for anyone and everyone she would meet. It prompts me to recall the last verse to the theme from The Sandpiper, a movie of love, loss and cherished memories. The song was called The Shadow of Your Smile, which Kathy would sing on occasion with the feel and fervor of Barbra Streisand. But it is the last verse which really hits home for me:

Now when I remember spring

All the joys that love can bring

I will be remembering

The shadow of your smile

Happy Birthday, Dear Sister.

A Memorial To My Godson

 

We are here today to honor my Godson, Steven Wessel, who passed on October 10, 2019. He was but twenty-seven years old and will forever be that age all through Eternity. Perhaps, he got the better end of that deal.

 While we are sad that he no longer walks among us, it is also a day where we can share our happy memories of him, as well.  Ultimately, it is not a somber day, but more like a bittersweet one.

 Steven, I wrote a commentary for your thirtieth birthday on April 3, 2022 called Happy Birthday in Heaven, Godson. I highlighted some, but not all, of your qualities, like marching to your own drum, your independence, and your unique sense of humor. But you were, in this life anyway, a pretty good cook, a fine actor and a great singer, as well. You were also a good and kind son to my sister, Roseann and my brother-in-law, Gary, and  a loving brother to your siblings, Kevin and Kelly. Not a day goes by where my sister doesn’t think of you and sheds a tear or three that you aren’t here.

 Since that fateful day four years ago, each day there is always someone who speaks of you, whether it would be a friend or a family member. These were and are the people who love you still, and keep your memory alive in their hearts and in their words.

 We have lost, and you have welcomed, other family members to join you at the Table of Good and Plenty to share in God’s Love for us all. My brother, Tim, my sister, Kathy and your Dad’s Mom, Joan are there with you now since you paved the way for them. You, and they joined my Mom and Dad who were already waiting there. Wherever that may be.

 While we are at it, Steven, please give a big hug and kiss to Nana, Gramps, Uncle Tim, Aunt Kathy, Grandma Joan and a tutta la nostra famiglia that you have the privilege to see every day wherever you are, and tell them all that they are missed every day by so many. But I am sure they, and you, already know that.

 So, Friends, lift your glass to Steven’s memory and know that somehow, some way he is here sharing this day with us. And remember the joy he brought to each of our lives. God Bless You, Godson.

 And May You Continue to Rest In Peace. Amen.