Jacquie

Sad times strike the White Family again. On May 20, 2012, we lost our sister Jacquie to that pernicious little bastard cancer. She was far, far too young.

It's no secret in my family that my sister and I didn't see eye-to eye on many things, but she was my sister. I loved her and I'll miss her. Even though we didn't always get along, she was always there if I needed her. A fact that I am only beginning appreciate now. She was also an early fan of this blog, although she would, despite my requests, never recommend it to her friends (Gee, I wonder why?). I was touched at her Wake by the hundreds of  people, total strangers to me, who told wonderful stories about what kindnesses Jacquie had done for them, and how much they loved her.

Regular readers of this blog will remember that my Mother always hated it when you said "goodbye" to her. "It sounds so final", she would say, "like we'll never see each other again. Say, 'so long', instead".

So long, Jac.

What makes my sister's passing extra sad is that I never got to say a real farewell to her. I was at her Wake, but on the day of her Funeral, I myself was being rushed to the hospital with a life-threatening, surgery-requiring condition of my own! I'll save that tale for next time. Believe it or not, it's smile-packed tale of hilarity!