The sisters.....

I am on the left and my sister is on the right. She has a lollypop and I have ugly brown shoes. 

This has been a most unusual year for our family. My mother was one of four sisters. She grew up in Massachusetts. After she graduated from college, she headed off to NYC to work in the children's library of the NY Public Library (the one with the Lions). She met my father and they courted. They were married in 1941. I came along in 1944 and my sister in 1947. We moved to New Jersey and the family in Massachusetts was a destination once or twice a year.

I was the oldest of the nine cousins. Too old to be with the "babies" that the my grandmother favored. And I was too young to be with the grownups.

I loved my aunts. Their humor was pure entertainment. I would listen from the top of the stairs. My giggles would give me away and I would be sent back to bed! 

In 1957 one of my aunts died tragically. Her husband moved away with their two girls. All contact was lost. I have always wondered what happened to the little girl cousins.

 The years have flown by. This spring I received an email from one of my other cousins. One of the missing cousins had contacted her. I was thrilled. We have been in contact.

I have struggled with this post. Questions and emotions are bouncing back and forth. Looking back I have to wonder why they were missing for so long and no attempt was made to love and include them. Their mother was a wonderful woman who loved them very much.

Their story is not mine to tell. I am so glad that they found us. It should have been the other way around.

Welcome Fran and Iris.