"You never know what tomorrow brings."
Indeed.
Tonight, I was cruising FB while racking up Swag Points, while listening to an account of the French Revolution on the Smart TV when I received a FB comment on a post.
Following the page for the town where I lived as a child in Michigan keeps me informed. They got 10" of snow! YIKES!
Glad I live in Texas!
I made a comment, a girl made a comment on my comment. So, it began.
When she asked me if I knew Julie Garten, I got chills & chicken skin!
Telling her that Julie was my younger sister, I asked her why?
She told me that they rode the school bus together and that Julie had just dropped out of sight one day. No one knew where she went.
I told her how I loved my sister with all of my heart.
Told her that my parents were quite cruel to my sister.
Told her that I had my lil sis come to live with me in Hawai'i when she was barely 15.
Loved her so much, I wanted to take care of her.
She had mental, emotional, psychological problems.
I STILL tried to take care of her.
My lil sis eventually returned to Michigan after graduating from High School in Hawai'i.
I didn't see her much after that. I was busy having & raising babies and moving all over the world for the next 12 years.
While living in La Republica de Panama', she sent a letter to me.
We began speaking on the phone regularly.
She wanted to get married, felt bad about shacking up for 7 years.
I told her I would bring my family to Utah & help with her wedding.
The man Julie married loved her so much. He loved her unconditionally.
He didn't care that she was 4'11", 600 lbs. He loved her.
To this day, I have never seen 2 people who love each other as much as my sister and her devoted husband.
They were married in a park on a summer day. It was beautiful!
Caveat ~ I love weddings! As long as I'm not the bride. :)
Julie and her husband were so happy together. They were so devoted to each other like no couple I have ever seen!
Julies' weight escalated. She was under the welfare medical care system. The doctor SHOULD have admitted her to a hospital to cause her to lose weight.
SHOULD HAVE.
Instead, the recommendation was a tracheotomy to "give her more oxygen."
When she told me this, I was living in Colorado, she was living in Utah.
That night, angels visited me, telling me to tell her she should not have this tracheotomy.
The next day, I called her on the phone, I told her. She was going to go ahead with it anyway.
The day the tracheotomy was done, I got a call from Julies' husband.
I thought he was calling to wish me a Happy Birthday.
He was calling to tell me that my little sis had died an hour earlier.
I was devastated!
Calling the airlines, I caught the next flight out of Colorado to Utah.
The last act of loving kindness I could do for my sister was to arrange a beautiful funeral for her.
It felt like I was such a failure.
I tried, o gawd, I tried to save her.
I couldn't save her.
It was a sad day.
The chapel, where her funeral was held, was filled to capacity. She was very loved by so many!
Tonight, I told this woman who was kind to my sister during a tumultuous time in Julies life, what became of her. How she lived, her adventures, how she found her soul mate. How much she was loved by so many people that the chapel was filled!
She passed on in 2000. Her husband still has not remarried and tends my sisters grave with love.
A chance encounter on Facebook. A modern marvel!
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