I don’t remember if I’ve showed this whole picture before.  I use a crop of the cute little guy on the left (which would be me) as an avatar on a few sites. The topless girl beside me is my DS. We, being the two younger of 5 kids.

2010 was a sad year for us as we said good-bye to our middle brother and elder sister. More, DS had to deal with the tragic loss of her 24 day old grandson. And together we celebrated the passing of our 92 year old uncle, the final member of our preceding generation on either side of the family.

In July, we commiserated how lucky we were to have passed the half way mark of 2011 and touched wood that the grim reaper would pass our family by this year.

But it was not to be, and a few weeks ago my DS passed away after a brief illness. Happliy, I spend an afternoon with her in the hospital while she underwent tests. Sadly, it was but a week later when I sat with her and her DH as she breathed her last.

Here she was in her grade 12 yearbook – Queen of the Prom that year. It doesn’t show well in the picture, but she designed and made her own gown, as she was want to do.

She went on to become a mathematician and computer scientist and only a few years ago retired as an executive in a major international computer firm.

Her DDs were close in age to my DD, and when the kids were young we spent most of our vacations together – usually camping on Lake Superior, where DS and I had spent our own summers as children.

In retirement, she combined her mathematical skills with her creative skills and developed an exciting retirement career as a stained glass artist.

Thanksgiving 2011 was bittersweet, but I give thanks for the life of my sister and I will hope to see her again on the other side.