1941 –  1981              APRIL 11:        I remember my beautiful little sister who I

nicknamed “Nikki” because she had the same name as our mother, who

didn’t want to always be called the “Large” version.  I regret not being more

available to her.

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Believe it or not, those eyes are blue.  Nikki died of stomach cancer at 40.  She bore two

children and had earlier in her life survived polio and rocky mountain spotted fever–

one of the first to survive the latter, I believe.  She had no lingering effects of polio.

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Nikki called me long distance at work to wish

me happy birthday the year before she died.  In

fact, when I answered the phone she sang me

the entire Happy Birthday song. I told her I have

some guilt feelings about my life and she laughed

and said, “Oh good, I’m  not the only one!” We

were pregnant at the same time.  Hers was born in November, mine in Dec.

When my youngest child was born she called me

at the hospital.  I had  to break off the conversation because the doctor

walked in just then.  When I didn’t call her back right away she came straight

to the hospital and saw my baby in the hospital nursery.  When she came into

my room she was weeping, and I  remember how touched I felt.  She was

about to be promoted at Turner Broadcasting when she died.  One night in

Atlanta there was a terrible storm and she and her husband Bob had to

spend the night in Ted Turner’s private office….