Remembering my Aunt Sis

 

I've never known a time when she wasn't around. We started to lose her the last couple of years. It became harder to call as she would be confused over the phone. Yet, when I saw her during the Spring of 2019, she was there and I'll never forget that day.

We sat at her kitchen table on Linda Street as we had for so many years, Mom, Donna, Sis, Tristan, Jack, Hannah and me. There were less of us now than what we were used to... but you could see glimpses of them in her home: Uncle Frank in his typical spot, Nana with a warm smile and, in my early years, Grandpa John by her side, Uncle Joe with his camera, Aunt Jini talking to Bev, my Dad taking a nap on the couch. They're all gone now but when you looked around Aunt Sis' home, they were there and the house was filled with love.

It was her love and for 96 years, she had a lot of it to give. 


She was born in 1924 in Boston, the second daughter of my Nana and her first husband, Grandpa John. Aunt Sis was named after her mother, Elmira, but it was always either, "Myra" or Sis. She was a wonderful sister to Jini, Joe, Howard (who died as a baby) and later my father, Jack. 


Myra loved to dance from a young age. Music was a part of her background growing up. She almost always had it on in the house and well into her 90's, she'd go dancing on a weekly basis. When I hear Patsy Cline, I think of Sis...


 
Sis' first marriage produced two of my favorite people, cousin Donna and Bev, who have always been more like Aunts to my sister and I than cousins. We loved them dearly and it always meant a lot to us spending time with them. Sis told stories of living in San Diego with Donna and Bev with her first husband. They lived in Balboa Park for a little bit as he was in the Navy. She was homesick for her family and eventually she returned home with the girls, alone.
 
At some point, she met my Uncle Frank. Whenever I think of him, a big smile comes to my face. He was a quiet man with a great big heart. He listened well, had a great laugh and was a good man. Frank was in the Army and during the 50's, they packed up the girls, said goodbye to my Nana, Uncle Joe and my Dad and moved to Austria. My Aunt Jini, Uncle Ken (whom I, sadly, never met as he died young but my Dad had great stories about him) and their three sons were there which I'm sure made things a little easier being so far from home. There, the family welcomed a son, Frank, who became the apple of his mother's eye.


Eventually, the family all returned to Massachusetts, Frank, Sis and the kids settled into their new home in Foxboro. Growing up, we would trek to Aunt Sis' for Christmas, to visit my Nana down the street and when my parents wanted to play pinochle. Christmas at Sis' was a BIG deal. The entire family was there. Looking at family photos, I have no idea how she managed to squeeze everyone in at the table but she did. When the grandkids, nieces and nephews came around, they added a kids' table as well as more candy dishes that were always magically full.




Family gatherings at Sis' were memorable and cherished. Sis rarely sat down. She wasn't content until everyone was fed and even then, she would ask if you wanted seconds, glass of Pepsi and food to take home. She was well known for her cooking. No one (well, except for Donna, Bev and then later Sis' grandkids, whom I'm sure learned from THE best) cooked like her. She made her spaghetti sauce from scratch and before I became a vegetarian in the late 90's, she made the best meatballs. As I'm writing this, I'm thinking of her cakes and cookies... when you wanted a great meal and good company, you went to Sis and Frank's. The door was always open except for the two nights a week when Sis went dancing.





The entire family would gather for the holidays and special occasions. The house was decorated in Sis' favorite colors, pink and green. Those colors were in almost every room in some way, down to the pink toilet that I coveted! Both my Aunt and Uncle played the organ. I have many good memories of family gatherings when Uncle Frank and Sis would play the organ and we all gathered round to enjoy their music.


On the weekends, Sis and Frank would do craft shows. They did this for many years and my Dad would often surprise them at the shows. Sis developed a recipe for dipping plastic flowers and turning them into porcelain. She had a large studio in the basement. This is one of my favorite photos, taken by my Uncle Joe. Sis working on her flowers. It's probably one of the few photos of her sitting down!


It was well known that Aunt Sis was a night owl. We all knew not to phone before ten and even that was early! When she was doing her shows, she'd stay up late into the night working on her flowers. Her basement was like an indoor garden. Later, when she stopped doing the shows, she still kept her late hours. She loved to listen to music. She was tech savvy with records, cassettes, cds and vhs tapes. She loved to record music, live shows and old movies of couples dancing. She made me many tapes over the years and they are treasures. 

 


Aunt Sis also had the prettiest house on the block. She tended to her rose bushes with pride. She had a garden along the side. When her grandbabies came along, she loved to talk about the youngest's love for picking fresh vegetables off and eating them in her Nana's garden.





When I moved to California, I would call Sis on a regular basis. Every phone call tugged at my heartstrings as she would say that she wished I'd move home. When I started teaching art, my Dad would ask, "Do you have a craft show this weekend?" I must have made him think of Sis in this way. She always asked about my classes and what I was doing. When I'd go home to visit, she'd take me to A.C. Moore and we would have fun wandering the aisles, talking. 


At the end of every family gathering, large or small, we would give hugs, kisses and thanks as we piled into our car. Sis would stand in the door waving and waiting for us to flash our lights or toot our horn goodbye. It's really hard to believe that she's not with us anymore. If I close my eyes, I can see her standing in the doorway, waving goodbye and the sound of Patsy Cline in the distance...