June 5th is my sister Alice's birthday. She died January 15, 1998, in her 67th year. Alice was not only my sister she was my friend, and confidante. We had many good conversations, and she encourged, and diligently urged me to write stories, poetry, and do anything else for which I had a passion. Two years ago, on the weekend of Alice's 69th Birthday, my younger sister, Mary, and I spent the weekend in New York City, celebrating Alice's Birthday. We stayed in a posh hotel near the UN Building, went to see Miss Saigon, had a terrific dinner at the Captain's Table, and walked around the city in the late hours. I could feel her there with us. Many times we talked about doing that but so many things in our lives took precedence.

I miss my sister, Alice, and the fun times we had. Oh, it wasn't all fun...we had our disagreements, as do all siblings, but we made a lot of fun memories, too. She introduced me to Classical music as she played Mario Lanza's opera recordings. At her insistance, when I was about 8 or 9, I read Shakespeare's poetry and she interpreted it for me. In our later years she and I started writing what I called Dual Poems. She'd write a line and I'd write the next, until we got to an impasse. I do regret not having saved any of them, sometimes we came up with some REALLY funny poems.

At a young age Alice caught Rheumatic Fever and it left her with heart valve problems. When she reached her 30's she had one valve replaced with a plastic valve, and it gave her a new lease on life. When the first year anniversary of that surgery rolled around, (February 12th) I sent her a Happy First Birthday card. She got a big kick out of it. Fifteen years later that valve was replaced with a pig valve. I took to calling her Miss Piggy, which always gave her a big laugh.

When Alice died a light went out in my life, but the steady glow will always remain. She donated her body to science so, as she said, they could see what made her tick. I bet there are some scientists out there with VERY surprised expressions on their faces. My sister Alice, a one-of-a-kind gal, and a really great pal.