We celebrated my sister’s life this past weekend and I felt a need to do another post about her.  Not one filled with the sadness of missing her, but one filled with the joy and fun of knowing her.  She’s my sister, always.

Sis was a smart woman.  Sometimes too smart!  She was definitely a grammar and language cop.  She would correct anyone, anywhere and at any time.  That included teachers!

She was not afraid to talk politics with anyone.  She had very strong conservative opinions and she and I had many disagreements over this.

She was an avid Red Sox fan who listened to or watched every game.  Back in the 70’s she once showed up to a cousin’s wedding with her transistor (remember those?) radio and earplugs because she wasn’t going to miss an important afternoon game.  She remembered watching Ted Williams play, but Carl (Yaz) Yastrzemski was always her favorite player.

She was also an avid UConn Huskies Women’s Basketball fan and would plan her evenings and weekends around the games.  We bought season tickets to the New England Blizzard an ABL league that only lasted three years.  The team played out of Hartford and featured several former UConn players.  We were there for every home game.

For years my sister and I would drive up to Belgrade Lakes in Maine.  My sister in law had a family cabin (camp) and we had a lot of fun there.  One year while driving up, Sis was looking at the signs on the Massachusetts Turnpike and said, “I wonder why the highway signs have Leprechaun hats on them?”  I said, “What are you talking about?”  She went on about how so many Irish people had settled in Boston but found it odd that the entire Turnpike would have Leprechaun hats as their symbols.  We laughed all the way to Maine when I told her they were Pilgrim Hats.

She loved soul music.  Marvin Gaye was one of her favorites (mine too!)  She owned the 45 of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” and I would sneak into her room and play it over and over again.

She wanted to make sure her children were aware of things happening in the world and not just concerned about themselves.  When they were in their early teens, they would come home and say they were starving and try to tell her they were “literally starving to death.”  Sis cut out a news article about Bobby Sands, an IRA prisoner who went on a hunger strike and starved to death after 66 days, and put it on the refrigerator door.   It prompted discussions about the IRA and hunger strikes and other world events.  It didn’t stop them from saying they were starving to death, but she always reminded them that it took up to 66 days for someone to starve to death.

We loved to play games.  Ours is a family raised on cribbage and setback.  Every family get together, picnic, party or just plain visit, could turn into a card game.  Two, four, six or eight.  It didn’t matter, we’d fit everyone around the table and play.  We all loved trivia too.  We would bring boxes of trivia questions with us to Maine (we didn’t bother playing the board game of Trivial Pursuit, we just asked the questions.)  We would play all night long and into the early morning hours of one or two–it was a yearly and nightly ritual when we were in Maine.  Sis had an amazing knowledge of early boxing and always had the answer for any question involving Max Schmeling, Joe Lewis and Rocky Marciano.  I found out, after Sis died, that out our Grandmother loved boxing and would listen to it on the radio with both of my older sisters.

My sister loved to create.  She loved to crochet and could always be found crocheting while watching television. Every family member has at least one blanket made by her.  She also loved drawing and crafting and sold some of her pieces through a consignment craft shop.  Mostly, though, she gave it away as gifts or donated items to her church to use for fundraisers.  Most recently, she was crocheting baby blankets for every newly baptized baby in her church.

There are so many memories that I will think of in the future.  Some with tears at the corner of my eye, some with fondness but most with laughter.  I’m so glad I had her in my life as long as I did and I’m glad you took the time to indulge me and read my tribute to her.

This week, I’ll be back to my regular Monday and Wednesdays posts, plus I’ll be adding a new post on Fridays for creativity prompts.  I hope you’ll join me.