Meet My Sister, Lois....

Graphic by Donna

Number five in the family is Lois, almost exactly 10 years older than I. Lois was a surprise baby, coming 16 months after P.J. Consequently she and P.J. grew up almost as twins. There is a story that my father made a remark to one of his sisters, after Lois was born, about her being a surprise (not planned). This aunt told my dad, "She'll be the one to care for you in your old age." And, in a lot of ways, this has proved true.

Lois has never married, and has no desire to do so. (She used to date regularly, though, and I can remember spying on her and her boyfriend when I was about 7 years old!) Lois likes her freedom. She works for a local lake resort, and spends a lot of her time, along with Barbara, caring for my Mom, my brother, and Mom's home. Lois moved out when I was 14 and she was 24 (so at 24 she lived at home the longest of all of us). But she didn't move far! She bought a mobile home and Daddy gave her a piece of land on the Southwest corner of the property. She lived there until Dad died, at which time she moved into the house with Mom and Alton. We did not want mom, at that time 78 years old, alone in the house except for Alton, who still needs to have someone nearby.  But it was Lois' decision to move in. 

She did play a big role in caring for Dad before he died as well, taking him to appointments, seeing that he took his medication, and so on. She is the main chauffeur for Mom and Alton as well, taking them to doctor's appointments and on other errands. She does the heavy housecleaning at Mom's and some of the cooking. Lois never cooked when she lived at home, or at least, very rarely. But when she first moved out, she asked Mom if she could make Saturday night dinner every week. Doing that she became a very good cook, and we got to sample all her early attempts!! It was fun experiencing firsthand her evolution into a good cook.

When she was home she couldn't grow anything! If she tried taking care of a houseplant it inevitably died. The only plant she was ever able to keep alive was an air fern; and a friend of mine killed that one day, when, helping me along with my Saturday chores while visiting, this friend decided she'd water all the plants -- including the air fern! But after she moved out, Lois started keeping houseplants alive, started planting flowers, shrubs and trees in her yard and eventually took over the garden from Mom.  (Oh, I forgot!  She did grow a horseweed when she was a little girl, tending it and keeping it alive for weeks!  But that's another story....)

Lois has a mischievous streak. She likes to tease, and she likes to pout. We call her the "real" baby of the family, but she doesn't seem to mind. In my young years I thought she was the prettiest of my sisters, and I liked to raid her makeup box while she was away from home. In my teenage years she became one of my best friends, and she was my Maid-Of-Honor in our wedding. All of us are blondes, except Lois. She was blonde when she was little, but her hair darkened into brunette, like our mother's. Also, like our mother, she started getting gray in her early thirties, which changed to a salt and pepper in her forties. Now, like our mother, I expect she'll get that beautiful silver hair in a few years. She does not color her hair. I can remember Mom ironing her hair when she was in high school because it was the style in the early seventies to have long, straight hair, and Lois' tended to curl. Then in the late seventies she gave up and cut it into a shag style, and the curls, finally unleashed to run riot, took over. She had the prettiest, naturally curly hair! And of course, like the perverse things we women are, she was never satisfied with the curls that most of us would kill or pay a fortune for! She's gotten used to them now, though, and lets her hair do what it wants.  (Actually, I used to cut and style her hair when I was still at home, and I can attest to the fact that it will pretty much do what it wants anyway!)

Of all of us, Lois is the only one who does not play a musical instrument, but she has a very good singing voice.  I love singing with all of my sisters, but she and I seem to have voices that blend especially well together.

I guess I'll stop here and post some pics of her. I could go on and on about this sister that I knew so well while I was growing up. At least now when I mention her, you'll know who I'm talking about.

To be continued....