The cool thing about my sister is that she wasn't afraid to look crazy.
She had a bowling ball collection. A BOWLING BALL COLLECTION, PEOPLE. And what is more is that she kept the collection out on the back lawn, the colorful balls randomly strewn across the green grass.
Advice: if you live where it snows, bring your bowling ball collection inside during wintertime or at least put the hole side down, because water gets in the holes, freezes, expands and cracks the outer layer. I know this to be true.
She also had 2 lighted fake palm trees (in Illinois). Tiny lights and reflectors in her outdoor trees. Crystals strung in her windows to make rainbows. A wild part of the yard so insects and animals could enjoy the wildness.
Because she was paralyzed from the neck down at the end, she was quiet and motionless and birds would land on her. She liked that a lot.
No wonder children loved her. They saw her big power wheelchair as a toy, which is also how she saw it. She dubbed it "La Tonteria," the foolish thing.
One summer, when we were in Chicago together, a mentally ill woman asked her "Do I make you nervous?" and she answered politely, "Oh, no, I'm just flustered by the heat." The woman snapped back "Well, that's God for ya."
I don't think we had a conversation over the past 10 years where one of us did not eventually say "Well, that's God for ya."
Oh, man, I hope she is somewhere really good.
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20 comments:
There is no doubt that she is. Anyone with a bowling ball collection and fake palm trees winds up somewhere good.
I agree with Suzanne.
She most definitely is.
She absolutely is. There is a special place for women with whimsy and wonderment.
She sounds absolutely fabulous. And that kind of fabulous continues on somewhere, no question.
I love the image of the birds landing on her! It sounds like she made her own little corner of heaven on earth, and now she gets the real deal.
I wish I had been lucky enough to meet her. By sharing tid bits of her life with the rest of us, you can bet that she will live on.
Put me in the suzanne camp as well - she is somewhere special.
Birds would land on her??? Suebob, I am not religious in any way, but it sounds like she was already an angel before she left.
Thank you for this picture of your sister. I think i would have liked her. Bowling balls? Awesome.
I don't think I will ever again be able to look at a bowling ball without a slight smirk on my face.
She sounds like one colorful lady!
Wherever she is, I am sure she has spiced up the place for sure.
LMFAO- this is so kick ass! omg, i freaking love it! she sounds like a unique, one of a kind, soul. thank yiou for sharing her with us!
Anyone with a bowling ball collection and lighted palm trees has to be redecorating things to their tastes in a better place. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a better place.
She sounds awesome.
I am so sorry for your loss. Siblings are our oldest companions, helping to carry each other's history. I imagine it feels like a limb is missing.
Hang in there.
k.
Bowling balls and lit palm tree. Fantastic.
I'm not a religious person at all, but the birds landing on her, well, that's pretty incredible. Some sort of Mother Nature good ju-ju going on in that.
What a cool chick. I love that she had crystals in her windows to make rainbows - and well the bowling ball collection is priceless.
I can only hope people say things like this about me when I pass.
I'm so sorry, Suebob. Laura sounds like my kind of gal, the best kind of gal, and thank you for sharing stories of her. I'll carry this memory of her with me.
I'm crying with you, SueBob. As the sister of someone I love more than I can even describe, I can't fathom your pain. I just can't!
I'm crying with you, SueBob. That's all I can do.
Suebob, I came to know Lo through the alt.support.mult-sclerosis newsgroup. She was a wonderful, wonderful lady, and I truly loved her.
Lo touched so many of us during her lifetime. She was not only an inspiration to me, but managed to remain a full human being while being such -- no saintly platitudes, Lo was 100% for REAL.
Deepest condolences to you, Michael, and the rest of your family. Lo lives in my memory, and always will. She was loved by many, and will be sorely missed.
Namaskarams.
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