TITLE: My Wild Crazy Sister By kathy wilson 11/17/11 |
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
SEND ARTICLE TO A FRIEND |
I had a wild and crazy sister. Out of our pack of six siblings, my 17 month younger sister had a way of being wild but at the same time staying out of trouble. When I was 5 we got out tonsils out at the same time and were sharing a room in the hospital In the middle of the night after the operation, my sister had to go to the bathroom but couldn’t get out of the crib so I helped her by lowering the side rails. After she climbed back into bed, I realized I needed to go as well,I was padding across the room just as the nurse came in to check on us. She helped me but not without a few comments of correction.
My sister, Carol ate an entire bottle of orange flavored baby aspirin, and then had to have her stomach "pumped". However, she did not get in trouble for getting into the bottle. Soon after that incidence my parents lost track of Carol as she played in the bedroom with our dog, a full grown Irish Setter. My parents and I searched for hours inside, and even out in the snow. After 4 hours of searching, my mother heard the dog barking and discovered that my sister had taken the dog and herself into the bedroom closet and shut the door, while she took a nap. We had searched the room, but didn’t discover them because they made no noise.
My sister began talking about 9 months of age and walked at 10 months. My mother tells the story of my bringing home 3 friends from kindergarten. I took them into the bedroom and announced, “This is my baby sister.” My ten month old sister who was supposed to be sleeping, sat up in the bed and insisted, “I not no baby.” Which made my friends giggle.
Carol used to make me so mad. Whenever we had a disagreement, I would state my position and she would simply say “not”, which negated my position. She was always spicy.
When a newborn baby, Carol had very pale, with almost transparent skin-due to our Swedish Heritage. In addition she had bright red hair. The hospital staff decided to give her a complete blood transfusion when she was born because they thought she was extremely anemic. Their reasoning was that my parent’s blood types were not compatable and Mother’s blood was negative in addition.
At 11 years old she developed leukemia. Childhood leukemia was extremely rare. There was no known treatment at the time other than surgery. The surgeons removed a large portion of the bone in her shin and burned her with radiation therapy which left her skin bright red and blistered. The doctors moved her to the large teaching hospital;children’s ward-after she developed sarcoma. My mother stayed with her constantly while in the hospital
After treating her for about a year they sent her home to die. We made a special cake for her 13th birthday, but she did not eat it because she graduated to heaven 3 days previous. Looking back, I realize that the Lord made Carol wild and crazy because he knew the future and knew what tools she would need. My Mother and I have talked about this many times. Carol had a difficult, although short life. But, despite all the difficulties, her life was a great blessing to adults and children. What seemed like a wasted life was actually full of purpose. Thinking about Carol assures me that Our Lord God does all things well.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.