How did I get so lucky, to have an older sister who was so much more. She was like a second mother to me, her baby sister. One week after her 83rd birthday, my sister, Frances, passed away, died, left us, went home to Heaven. There is a Heaven and my sister is there. If my sister is not there, then there is no heaven, it's as simple as that.

I am retired now (that's how old the Baby Sister is), and I still feel like the "baby" of the family - that never changes. When I was a child and through my teenage years, Fran was there for me. She taught me how to sew at a sewing machine, how to knit, and how to be "responsible".

Back in the day, Fran was considered a "career woman". That means she was single and had a full-time job in The City by the Bay. Our family lived in the suburbs about 25 miles south of San Francisco, so Fran commuted daily on the train or the Greyhound bus. Back then, it seemed so adventurous and exciting and it was. Back then.

Every Saturday, Fran would go back to The City, but for fun and shopping with her best friend. Basically, I was an Only CHILD because my two sister and two brothers were all young adults when I was born. So, unless I could go to my friend's house, or a movie, it was pretty boring and lonely for me just hanging around the house with nothing to do. Then came the magic words. My sister would simply ask me if I wanted to go to The City with her. Did I ever! She didn't have to ask twice, that's for sure!

I can't explain how exciting this was for a young girl between the age of 12 and 16! Off we would go, often on the train and later on in Fran's car. Once we arrived in San Francisco, we often made a stop where she worked if she had to catch up on something or other. After that, it was on to the big department stores of the day (one of them being Macy's - which is still in business). It was such an adventure to look at all the new clothes and trinkets in the Big World. One of our favorite places to go to was Woolworth's (Woolworth's is one of the old time legends that no longer exists) It was on the corner of Powell and Market Streets, right where the cable cars turned around. This was such a different world from today, it was not as sophisticated as our world is today. These seemingly mundane activities were Special Occasions, everything was shiny and new to a teenage girl back in the 1950's.
Woolworth's was like World Market is today a giant, playful flea market; the place bustled. This was

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