by Eva Kaufman

Created on: April 30, 2009

I have become closer with my sister in the last couple of years. We were three sisters. I was closest with my older sister, simply because we were only eighteen months apart in age. I idolized my big sister and thought she was a very special person. I tried to help her when she became ill. My sister suffered from Diabetes and Hypertension. Unfortunately she was in denial for many years. The time came when she wasn't able to drive because she lost her eyesight. One evening she was driven to my house and we were going to have a nice evening. She had a stroke shortly after she arrived and was taken to emergency and was hospitalized. Fortunately the stroke was not very serious. However she developed kidney failure. She went for dialysis three times a week. I took her many times, and really felt bad seeing her suffer. My sister died in her sleep one night. Apparently she had a massive stroke while asleep and died. I was devastated. My niece called early in the morning, which in itself was unusual and told me that she was non responsive and paramedics were working on her. I drove as fast as I could without killing someone to her house. The entire trip was less than ten minutes. When I got to her house she was already dead. To this day I miss her. We had a very close bond and shared a lot, especially as we got older.

I also have a younger sister. She is four years my junior. I was never close to her, especially while growing up. Not that I didn't love her, I just felt we didn't have much in common. After the death of my older sister, we became closer. I guess we both realized how fleeting life is. At first we really didn't know much about each other, so the relationship wasn't very close. Over the last few years we have learned to trust each other. We became much closer and now speak to each other almost every day. We often speak of our older sister. I did learn to appreciate my sister for who she is. All of us are flawed. Our differences have brought us together and we share our lives with one another. Recently my sister experienced a terrible situation with her youngest son. He has attempted suicide three times and each time gets better at it. He is currently hospitalized. Being a mother, I know what she is going through. She constantly worries about him, as is suffering with depression. I make sure I speak with her daily because I want her to know that I am there for her.

I love my sister and have only one left. There is nobody closer than your own sibling. When tragedy strikes, one finally realizes to make life count.

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