She Lived from her Heart

Posted by Mary on April 19, 2009

I’m creating notes about my sister Faye for her pastor as he prepares consoling words for her funeral service on Monday.  Later today we will gather with family and friends for her visitation.  I’ve started with just the facts, when and where she was born and a list of family members, where she went to school and her career.  The hard part  is I’m trying to describe who she was or at least how I remember her as I’m big sister.

I was reflecting on how we were so opposite in many ways, she had this big smile that made her approachable and it showed in the number of friends she attracted.  She nurtured and protected relationships like they were gold and I remember teasing her because she said she made friends while riding the bus to work, she called them her bus buddies.  Where my sister was more of an extrovert and a very social person I am more introverted and serious, always with my head in a book (or computer).  It occurred to me today as I thought about our differences that while I lived in my head my sister lived from her Heart.

My mother would be so proud of Susie, she was such an example of good manners and etiquette.  She still does all the things she was taught, she was never a rebellious teenager.  When I go to her apartment I see her bed is made and everything is neat and orderly, color and memories fill her home with pictures of loved ones the ocean and sea shells everywhere.  When we have family gatherings she’s the first to offer to bring a dish and after dinner she’s not sitting in the living room becaue she’s in the kitchen washing dishes for whoever made the meal.  She still says please and never forgets to say thank you, she offers you gas money if you give her a ride and always pays her debts no matter how long it takes.  She brought cards frequently to remember birthdays and special events and never forgets what’s special to you.

I’m not sure what I’ll do without my sister, I was always taking classes or learning something new and when I’d forget old stories or people I’d ask Susie, I told her once she was my memory.  We’d laugh too because when she would answer any question about a past family story she would tell us what the weather was like and what we were wearing.  I won’t won’t be able to ask her to remind me about our past anymore.

My sister lived from her Heart,

Mary