January 12, 2006

I’ve been on a real roller coaster these past few weeks. First there was the elation of getting married to Chris, who is my partner in every way imaginable. That was followed by a lovely New Year which came before the letdown of his family going back to England, Saying goodbye to them after such a great visit was really difficult and sad for me. I’d grown quite fond of them and their leaving made me cry. I got an awful cold afterwards, from which I am still recovering. But worst of all was the phone call I received from my sister Gina last week to tell me that my cousin Carol’s daughter Jessie had been killed in a car crash in Pennsylvania. She was in the left lane stopped to turn when a van rear ended her and pushed her into incoming traffic whereupon her car was hit by a pickup truck killing her instantly. She was only twenty six years old and in love and happy for the first time in her life. She’d always felt a bit of an outsider and was just experiencing the joys of friendship, love and camaraderie. Yesterday was the funeral. To say it was heartbreaking would be to underestimate the effect it had on me. She was my cousin’s beloved and beautiful only child. I cannot imagine how she stood there receiving people yesterday. It was a wrenching experience for me, my mom and my sisters.