Hug Your Siblings

Yesterday I got a terrible email from my friend Carol saying she was on her way to her youngest sister’s because she had fallen down the stairs and was on life support for hitting her head. Carol was asking for prayers, which I readily got on my knees to send, but sadly was not enough. Her sister Mary did not make it.
Carol is one of three girls, like me and we often discussed life growing up with in a house with three girls. Carol is the middle and therefore was the piece maker. Mary, was the baby and since she was about my age, much too young to leave this world. It especially feels wrong that she did not just sprain and ankle or twist a knee falling down the stairs. Hitting your head is one of those freak things that makes this all seem impossible.
Hearing this story reminds me of my Aunt and Uncles good friend Ann, who used to go to Pawleys Island with us when I was a kid. Ann fell off a step ladder when she was in her forties and hit her head in just a way that killed her too. She was a tiny woman who was in excellent shape. The freak accident was just that, a freak. But now that is two women in the prime of their lives that I have known who died from an accidental fall.
Please be careful walking, especially on stairs. We all have gotten much more distracted with phones and the like. If you wear reading glasses, take them off when you are walking. You just don’t know what horrible thing can happen.
I am holding Carol her sister Barb and their family in my heart. They only just lost their mother a bit ago. To add real heartache to Carol’s very bad day she also lost her beloved dog, Duchess on the same day. Maybe there is some solace that Mary and Duchess are in heaven together, but that is awfully hopeful of me.
I am sending love to my sisters today. I can’t imagine losing them at too young an age. They are the ones who have known me longer than any friend. They are the original playmates, confidantes or people you fought with first. They know what life in house really was like, what you all used to laugh about and what really makes you crazy. Hug your siblings today. We just don’t know how long we have together.