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!

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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?

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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.

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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.

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





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