Grandma Henke

Alice always has posts that get me thinking … as did the recent one she wrote called "Sisterhood"     It reminded me of promises my sister and I made to each  other years ago … that I am sue we both honor to this day and will do everything in our power to keep.      Whichever one of us dies first, the other one has to put off their mourning long enough to go over and do a quick clean through the others house and pay particular attention to the toilets and sinks. 

Mother trusted us girls to make sure she looked "presentable" before her viewing when she died.    You’ll have to read my blog, "Lip Service At The Mortuary".    We truly meant to honor her trust.    We did our best.

My friend, Leslee, and I were both pregnant in 1973 when I fell and ended up with a high risk pregnancy for the next 4 months and had to stay pretty much flat in bed.    The ladies in our church brought in meals three nights a week because I couldn’t get up to prepare them and Lynn was overwhelmed getting home from work and taking care of three children (the youngest being a baby of 7 months).    Leslee came over every single day the ladies were expected and cleaned up my living room and kitchen before they got there because she knew how embarrassed I was when things weren’t clean for company.    Now that is a true friend.

My sister in law, Vivian, changed the dressing every day for two weeks on where my tailbone would have ended if it hadn’t been removed through surgery while Lynn was in Vietnam.    That couldn’t have been the most pleasant job … I had to kneel on the bed, put my head and chest down and my rear in the air for her to do it.    You can’t just ask anyone to do that for you.

My childhood chum, Donna, is one of my forever friends.    She had a huge impact on my decisions growing up … thank goodness we didn’t get ourselves in too much trouble.    Even though I see her maybe once every 3 or 4 years … I would drop anything if she called and needed my help, and I know she would do the same for me.

Phyllis, Sherry, and I were as close as friends could possibly be back in the 80′s when we all decided we were too fat and went and got our jaws wired shut.      Okay … so that wasn’t the smartest thing we ever did … but we stuck together through it because we had an agreement.    I would NOT advise it to anyone.  In fact, I would absolutely UN-advise it.     It sort of bonded us, in a way.    You do something like that together you are forever friends.

Claudia is my forever friend from Blanding.    We would do anything for each other … any kind of dirty work … any kind of sacrifice.    We always made extra food for the other’s family, often had each other’s children in our beds at night, and our families spent every holiday and Sunday evening together for about four years.    When we moved from Blanding Claudia and I could hardly stand to think about it … her mother told us not to worry we would always be close friends … and we are … even though we don’t talk to each other more than once a year.

My forever friends are those who know me best … who I know best.   There is a sisterhood there that lasts.