Betty Jo Cardana
March 16, 1940 - February 28, 2009
In Feburary of 2009 my only sister, Betty died. She had been diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer in November of 2008, but since they had caught it early we all expected her to beat it. She began aggressive Chemo and Radiation Therapy, but ultimately her liver failed. She went into coma and never woke up.
A Letter to Betty
Hey there, how's Heaven? I sure miss you. You were a great sister. In temperment more like Daddy (quiet, shy) but you got Mom's georgeous, naturally curly auburn hair! I got Daddy's dark brown hair (which I later dyed auburn!) and hazel eyes, and Mom's temperment - noisey! So we didn't have a lot in common, did we?
Growing up we fought, a lot. But Mom told us (again and again) we'd be friends when we grew up. I'm so glad she was right. Even though it means I will miss you all the more...
I love you very much. I know you knew that. Our last visit is a treasure in my heart. You, with freshly shaved head (and Henry, too, bless him!) The cancer treatments were taking their toll, but you seemed well enough, and happy to see me. We laughed and talked like always. It was good.
You showed me your "Chemo Cap", knitted for you by one of your many friends. It was adorable. Two weeks later you died in it.
The next time I saw you you were deeply asleep and couldn't wake up - even when your 101 year old mom-in-law told you to! (Bless her!)
Eventually, as the days went by and you didn't respond, we began telling you it was OK to let go. And finally, you did.
The only good thing that came from all of this is the time I spent with your kids. All 5 of them! AND they all got to see my son and daughter, and to meet my son's twins! So your kids and my kids got re-acquainted after way too many years! Otherwise, losing you has been so awful. It just hurts.
Do you know there were more than 100 people at your memorial service??? And that was on very short notice! We needed to do it before all the kids went home to their respective states. A LOT of people love and appreciate you, Betty. You will be sorely missed by so many.
Recently I visited Henry. He's doing OK. Not well, but OK. Middle son, Bob and youngest son Joe were still there at the house.
Bob and I went through a few things. We finally went through that box of Mom's stuff that you and I were supposed to go through. Whenever we got together we had so much fun talking, we always forgot about that damn box! As it turns out, there were a couple of treasures in there.
And we found a few treasures from you, too.
I brought our "little people" home. Wow, I remember playing with those so clearly. I loved those "little people!" And since we shared them, and both loved them, I put them in a display case. They make me smile, and think of you...
