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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Live, Love, Learn, Remember, and Tell


Sattui Trees

My sister, Barbara, passed away last week on the morning of Wednesday, February 3rd of 2010. I knew my sister was in bad health, but I didn't expect to hear that she died that day.

I realized that I'm the friend or family member that you never hear from. Isn't that how we all feel when we lose someone that's close to us? We wish we could have told them how much we love them or we want to say how sorry we are for not speaking to them for years because of the argument we had. My sister and I never had an argument. We just never talked. But is that an excuse? As I get older, I'm discovering how important it is to make an effort to stay in contact with friends and family, because you never know when the voice they have is silenced.

My father died in his sleep in 1981 when I was 16 years old. We spoke, but we really didn't speak. When I was a child we were close, but as I got older, my dad and I grew apart. My dad was born in 1916. That is 94 years ago. He lived through The Wall Street Crash of 1929, The Great Depression, World War 1 and 2, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King any many other historical events.

My message today would be for us to make an effort to reach out to friends and family, especially the elderly. Talk to them. Get to know them. Their memories are anchors to the past that could be lost if their stories are not told. Learn their life and share their stories with your children. I didn't just lose my sister. I lost the memories she had of my father. How I wish I had the opportunity to go back and ask my sister about him.

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