One shoe on . . . One shoe off I wondered where my doll’s shoe went? I went to bed and in the morning her shoe was on again.  I wondered about it . . . but then forgot . . . until Christmas morning. 

My sister, Claire, had made a beautiful pair of red felt slippers for my two-year old sized doll . . . complete with shiny sequins!  I found out she had “borrowed” a doll shoe one evening as a pattern to make the much loved slippers.

I was probably about 8 years old, which means that Claire was 20 years old.  She was always so very special and kind to me. 

When I had bad dreams as a child, it was Claire who comforted me in the night.  When I cut my hair all wrong in the 8th grade, it was Claire that helped to make it right.  When she came home from work I remember following her all over the house.  It was Claire who gave me a huge decorated Easter egg one year . . . in a pretty box with a window of cellophane.  How I loved looking at it . . . and of course eating it.

As adults, Claire and I talked about everything.  When she stayed in our home while we were at camp during the summer, she left small gifts for Matthew, Kristen, and Todd right next to their beds. 

When she was dying of brain cancer she made me laugh when we went out to pizza together.  I had fun helping her pick out wigs and trying to style them. 

The last time I saw her was in the Northern Dutchess Hospital after she had a hip replacement.  As she was leaving in an ambulance transport she asked me how she looked . . . I choked back tears and said, “Beautiful!”  She was . . . in every way.

On her casket at her memorial service were these words framed . . . “I am not here.  I am with Jesus.” 

That was nearly 15 years ago. How I miss her!

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me Everlasting Life . . . I will see her again!