The sister I never knew.

I chatted with my second sister Jean today on the occasion of her 75th birthday.  It was a lovely conversation.

I still find it hard to reckon with the fact that I have two older sisters who are blessed with the gift of life  one aged 77 and the other aged 75. 

It seems that it was only yesterday that we were young children, growing up in Bristol, U.K.  Here we are in our 70's, all those years on!

===============================

My chat with Jean made me think about the sister I never knew.

Her name is  Sylvia.  She was born in (I think) 1942, two years before my twin and I arrived in 1944.

Sylvia's life was brief.  She was born with spina bifida. She died in infancy.  So I never knew this dear sister Sylvia.

Today, as a result of chatting with Jean, I have been wondering how Sylvia's life would have developed had she lived. It's made me sad to recall that I had a sister I never knew.

Would she have had a lovely and blessed life?  

Would she and I, now in our seventies, have become the best of friends?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When our blessed Mum ( a mother of ten and a fabulous woman) died back in 2002 one of my sibs ventured that in heaven she would meet, greet, and love her daughter, and our sister Sylvia.

Lord above, I hope that this is so.

And I hope that in the "eternal realms", I too  will rejoice to meet Sylvia, the sister I never knew.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope the same for two of my nephews:

1.  Jack, the son of my sister Ruth.  He left this life due to "sudden crib/cot death" when he was no more than a few months old.

2.  Thomas, the son of my brother Martyn and his wife Wendy.  Thomas was born with all too many heath problems.

 Due to all manner of happenstances, I, in England for a holiday, was able to baptize him in the neo-natal unit at the St. Michael's Hospital in our  home City of Bristol.

I led the prayers at his burial  a few days later.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

God be merciful to us and bless us, especially Sylvia, the sister I never knew, and my infant nephews Jack and Thomas.  





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more