M: Marion

M is for Marion

April 15, 2022

Dear Marion,

There are a lot of things that I never had a chance to tell you before you left us last year. I’m hoping that this letter gets to you and you are doing well where ever you may be right now. 

You were my older older sister. Eight years may not seem like much right now, but when we were growing up it made a difference. You were one of my tutors. Our likes were somewhat dissimilar but we managed to tolerate one another. 

You always tried to guide me in the ways of the world. You should know that I did listen some of the time, despite the fact that I never really could learn how to dance the Lindy. 

As I got older and I did heed the advice of both you and Leslie, my younger older sister, and chose to go to college away from home rather than stay at home and go to City College. That guidance was probably the best advice I ever took from you. 

Throughout college, your advice on drugs and the like, I followed. Though without your guidance, I probably would have still followed the path I took, just being the person I am. 

After college, we kind of reversed roles. I became your tutor for you, especially in regard to technology. In fact, it was through technology that I became even closer to you, for now, even though you lived in Austin, Texas, and Raleigh, North Carolina, I could communicate with you more frequently. I’m sorry I never came to visit you in either of your homes after you moved from New Jersey. 

As your condition worsened, I tried to communicate with you more frequently. Patience is one of my virtues so I spent the time talking with you and listened to all you had to say, even when you weren’t sure who I was.

One of the things that we don’t say to each other in our family enough is that we love each other. Though we always have, it was never spoken. Those last few months I made it a point to say it to you. 

Though we didn’t spend much time with each other after we both grew up and moved out of our parent’s home and onto our own lives, our family was always a strong part of me. I guess that’s why I spend time working on our genealogy and even found our half-brother in France. 

I hope you are happy where you are and look down upon us with the love and caring that you always had within you. 

You are and will always be missed.

                Your loving brother, 

                                 Harvey