Remembering Judi

When we were kids, I used to be able to con my little sister into cleaning my messy room. Good-natured as she was, she happily obliged – especially after my mother made me pay her a nickel for the task.  But time went on, she wised up and decided to raise the rate. I promptly fired her and my room was never clean again.  

Growing up, Judi was such a tomboy.  She played hard, climbed trees and squeezed every ounce of fun from any situation.  Our mother used to say that, unlike me, Judi skimmed the surface of life.  But, the ripples ran deep.  Just ask anyone that knew her.  She loved to laugh, and so much like our father, not a day went by that she didn’t exercise that natural sense of humor – even in the most difficult of circumstances.

And she loved fixing people.  Mom always had to keep a never-ending supply of band-aids accessible to the merciful neighborhood Nurse Judy.  She collected stray patients.  Every scraped knee and boo-boo within a six-block radius was tended and mended with a band-aid and a smile.  She took that love of healing, that passion for people and that infectious humor to an enthusiastic career in nursing that spanned decades.  Only God knows just how many lives she touched -- patients, co-workers and friends alike.  She fixed them up with skill and humor.

When she met Mike, he fit right into her life and became her perfect life-long compliment with his own brand of humor and steadfast loyalty.  Over the years, they weathered much together – there is no one else on earth that I would have wanted to travel life’s seas with my sister/best friend. 

Our children grew up together; so many memories involve my two, Joey and Lori, and the three funny, adorable Shevlin kids. Those were lively times indeed – shared afternoons by the pool, boisterous holiday dinners, day trips and impromptu outings.  Now they’re adults, but I still have images of Judi and I laughing as Andrea and Lori sang and danced or liberated captured frogs by flinging them over the back fence to freedom.  I can see the girls dressing up the good-natured Michael as a yellow bumblebee – or often worse.  And then there was baby Veronica, bringing up the rear, doing her darndest to keep up with the big kids, and usually succeeding.  Judi was so proud of her children.  They comprise the very best of both parents: Andrea, caring and compassionate; Michael, strong and loyal; and Veronica, helpful and kind.

Judi was my best friend even though at times we lived far apart.  I am proud of my little sister.  She occupied an important place in this world, and judging by the outpouring of caring, support, love and food over the past few days, it was a big place in the hearts of so many.

Now, she is reunited with our dad and all those she loved who left this world, and she’s making all of heaven smile.  Whenever a summer thunderstorm rolls through, I am going to think of it as laughter, as Judi cracking another joke and making the angels chuckle.  As for the rest of us, we will just have to learn to put on our own band-aids here on earth.