Meet my Siblings.......

My Sunny Saturday morning turned into a very brisk, cold, windy Saturday afternoon.  Brrrr!

I enjoyed going down to my Mom's last weekend.   Mom only lives about 70 miles away, but I don't get down there as often as I should, and they don't get up here very often either.  We call and email each other a lot, though.

It was good to see my sister who was visiting from Florida.  Maxine is my second oldest sister, third from the oldest and is about 54 now, I guess.  She was widowed 10 years ago from her husband of 28 years.  Then about 7 years ago she remarried a man from Germany who has lived in the US for about 20 years.  He's quite a bit older than she is.  He didn't come up this time; this was just a quick trip for her.  She looked good.  She teaches second grade in St. Augustine.

My oldest sister who just turned 58 in January also just found out in January that she has diabetes.  It hasn't progressed very far and they are going to try to control it with diet and hold off on the medication as long as they can.  Dennice lives right next door to my Mom on Mom and Dad's property.  She was widowed about 13 years ago and has not remarried.  She is a speech and language pathologist who works with their local school system and also takes private clients.  She's a nut!

I know discovering the diabetes and having to change her diet has got to be horrible for her.  She loves food.  She had a hard life while her husband was living but has always been the most upbeat, happy, fun person I know.  She will swear she has never been depressed a day in her life, but I don't see how.  I think food became her antidepressant and although not obese she has been overweight for years.  She started a diet last year, though, and lost 24 pounds.  Now that she's on this dietetic diet she'll be losing a lot more I'm sure.  She looked good, too.  I hate that she has diabetes, though.  I hope she sticks to the diet and takes care of herself.  She's a bit of a workaholic and has been known to neglect herself!

I might as well talk about my other siblings, too!  My brother, Alton,  who is 56 used to be an over-the-road driver.  He had a stroke about 8 years ago (and also had to have an aneurism in his brain clipped) that left him debilitated enough to not be able to live on his own.  He can take care of his own personal needs, but sometimes his memory isn't good, and he's on a lot of meds.  He has had a couple of seizures over the years. So when this happened we built an apartment onto our Mom and Dad's house so he could be there with them.  

My sister, P.J., 52, works for H & R Block.  She remarried three years ago to a wonderful man who fits into our family like a glove.  They live about 30 miles away from our Mom.

Lois, who turns the big 5-0 next month, lives with my Mom and brother now.  When Dad died Lois moved in and gave her house to Dennice because we wanted someone in the house with Mom and Alton.  She works for a local resort,  Mountain Laurel Lake.  She does a lot for Mom and Alton, too.  She and Dennice are potters, too.  They are getting quite good with their creations!

Barbara, next to me in age, will be 46 this year.  She is an artist and has a house on my parents' property, also.  She is also one of Alton's main caregivers.  Actually Mom and Dad put her and Lois' names on the deed to their property a few years ago, so that when they are both gone the property will already be theirs -- no inheritance taxes.  We figure since they are both unmarried and don't plan on going anywhere they should get the property.  They'll be there to continue taking care of Alton too.  Barbara  has lost 17 pounds over the winter!  I had her write down the diet she's been on.  Maybe I'll try it.

I enjoyed our visit, but for the first time in a long time I kept thinking someone was missing.  I guess I was expecting to see Daddy.  I felt that way for several months after he died, but this was the first time since thatfirst year.  Left me feeling kind of incomplete and restless while I was there.  Their 55th anniversary would have been Feb. 1, and his birthday is on Feb. 28.  He would have been 83.  Maybe that's why it felt strange -- it's the month.