Unbiased Reviews by Real People
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Unbiased Reviews by Real People
OUCH! get that thorn out of my sideAug 26, 2005 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line This is a true story about a lifelong Love/Hate relationship.
I have been thinking for awhile now…about what I would write about as a return to Epinions. It’s been quite a while since my last review (May 17, 2004), The only defense I will give up is that I don’t spend a lot of time on the computer, and since my wife kamel622 spends a lot of time writing, I just haven’t taken the time to sign her out so that I could. We have two brand new computers in our home now and we can both be on simultaneously, never sign each other out of any site, heck! We’ve even IMed each other from each side of the one wall that separates the computers by about five feet. Why? Because we CAN!! A friend in epinions Ruby950 suggested that I write a review about my new computer which was a birthday gift from my wonderful Wifey for Lifey, and two of our daughters. That sounds like a great idea Deb~, but after giving it much thought, it hit me today. My return to writing will be an essay about one of my sisters. If you look at a list of all my reviews, you’ll find that most of them are about my family, mostly my Dad who past into his “new life” on April 2, 2004. My Mom is still living; I have an older brother (Joe), and three younger sisters (Jenny, Rosemarie and Teresa). I love all of them, but the one I will introduce you to today is the oldest of the three, Jenny. WHO IS THIS JENNY CHARACTER?: Jenny was born less than two weeks before my first birthday, and I know a lot of family and friends thought it was a wonderful birthday present to give me a sister, I’m sure I loved her for a little while. I think I became jealous because I wasn’t the baby anymore; I was a “middle child”. As we became toddlers, doing all the things that toddlers do like getting into EVERYTHING, things I did were wrong, I was old enough to know better, things Jenny did were cute. I don’t think I liked her anymore. BIRTHDAYS: Through the years, my Mom and Dad celebrated Jenny’s and my birthdays together, The Helms Bakery man would give us a cake and it always said “Happy Birthday to the Twins”. That was his present to us; I think I felt like slapping him and saying “She’s NOT my twin!!” For those who don’t know about the Helms man, he used to drive his yellow van around like an ice cream truck or the “milk man” and deliver his goodies. Our birthdays were always celebrated on the weekend closest to her birthday. I think I began to really despise her. When we were teenagers, and started having “real” girlfriends and boyfriends, I began to enjoy our birthday parties a lot more. Living in Long Beach, California, our parties were at the beach or the Colorado Lagoon. Rushing hormones, girls in bikinis, I didn’t worry so much about Jenny, I was hanging out with her girlfriends and she hung out with some of my friends. It was always a lot of fun getting to the party location too, because there were no seat belt laws at that time. My Dad would find a way to load a dozen boys and girls into his 1959 Impala, (I was a LOT skinnier than I am now). We guys didn’t mind the girls having to sit on our laps. I think I liked her again. EXCEPT FOR: Our entire time growing up and living in our Mom and Dad’s home, Jenny was most often an instigator of troublemaking ideas. Jenny was always our Mom’s “favorite”, and could do no wrong as far as my Mom was concerned. Jenny has confessed that she did most of the stuff that I was punished for and my Dad acknowledged that in a letter he wrote to me. Sure, once in awhile we were “partners in crime”, but I always seemed to get the short end of the stick. I would have to go along with her schemes, or she would go ahead and do something, then tell my Mom that I did it. You know now where that would wind up. When we were younger, she had another way of getting to me if I didn’t do as she wished; she would take a paper and a pencil or crayon, and scribble on the paper, that was “drawing me dirty”, and it ALWAYS made me cry. She still threatens me with that one, “I’m gonna draw you dirty.” GETTING MARRIED: I met my Kathy, in September of 1975; we fell in love very quickly and became engaged. Through most of that next year we were planning our wedding, and we set the date, September 4, 1976. Everything was fantastic, and then my sister Jenny announced that she was going to get married just two weeks before Kathy and me. (Sounds like when she was born, eh?) Aunts and Uncles, Cousins and friends attended Jenny’s wedding, and told me that they would not be able to attend mine. I was angrier with Jenny than I had ever been in my life! I truly hated her then. I had been telling Jenny that her marriage would not last if she married that particular man, and it fell apart shortly after they were married. She spent most of their six year marriage staying at my Mom and Dad’s home. She eventually married again and had two children, Kristina and Alejandro. I don’t recall how long that marriage lasted but I think it was a better one. She and her second husband are on friendly terms, though he lives out of state. Much of the time in her second marriage, the entire family lived with my Mom and Dad. My Dad built a little shack in the backyard for them. I’m not sure how accurate this is, but I believe, out of her 55 years she has not lived with our parents, an accumulated six years. LIFE GOES ON: Thanks to my wife Kathy, a lot of prayer, and the strength of family values which our parents instilled in us, my anger subsided. It took a long time for me to say “I love you.” to her whenever she said it to me. Often times I would chuckle and say almost jokingly “Oh, shut up.” Today I freely say “I love you, Jenny.” WHY DOES SHE STILL LIVE AT HOME?, As we have aged, so did our parents. Our Mom has Alzheimer’s disease, and our Dad became very ill and weak prior to his passing last year. My sister, Jenny does what none of the rest of us siblings can do. She has provided 24/7 care for our Mom and Dad for many years. Her daughter, her son and a couple of her kids’ friends are a wonderful support to her. ARE WE REALLY TWINS? We aren’t twins but we have always seemed to have that “twin connection”. We can sense when something is happening with each other, distance doesn’t seem to matter (California to Wisconsin.) We try to speak with each other on the phone at least every other week. SHE MADE ME CRY AGAIN! Ever since our Dad died, Jenny has started something to keep herself busy, as if she wasn’t busy enough. Something she calls a “Hugs of Memory Bear”. She makes 18 or 22 inch stuffed bears using clothing from a loved one that someone has lost. Her base prices are $35 or $45. I say “base price” because there can be extras added. This year for my birthday, she sent me a “Hugs of Memory Bear” which she made from a shirt my Dad wore often. My Dad was a very faithful man in the Catholic Religion, as am I, so my sister added a rosary to one of his wrists; draped over his shoulders she taped a scapular to it, inserted a music box which plays “Amazing Grace” and the thing that really made me cry tears of love, my bear wears a pair of my Dad’s glasses. The eyes and nose are buttons which were on the shirt. WHAT CAN I REALLY SAY ABOUT JENNY? This girl, who was the biggest thorn in my side when we were growing up, has grown into quite a woman. She is a great Mom to her daughter and son (and their friends). She is very loving and giving, anyone who comes to visit her or my Mom should come hungry, because she will start cooking something unless they stop her before she gets started. When I’m there for a few days, or longer, (last year I was there for the entire month of April) we have our arguments, but seem to get along for the most part. If she would just not treat me like one of her kids, she even looks like Mom!! She’s a saint for what she has done for our parents. The most important thing I can say about Jenny is: “I LOVE MY SISTER!”  |
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