“Weeping may last through the night but Joy comes with the Morning.” Psalm 30:5b
I am the youngest of three siblings and the only daughter to two of the most faithful parents anyone could possibly ask for. So I didn’t grow up knowing what it was like to have a sister. However, I did have the sweetest of blessings watching my mom and her sister Gail do sisterhood like champs. My mom has said they were treated like twins most of their lives, so eventually they felt like they really were. From growing up in matching outfits…to raising the five of us cousins together but from a distance…to settling and peddling near the beach in their latter years…it was always Lynn and Gail.
Because of their bond, Aunty Gail was a constant in my life as well. The childhood memories at her homes in Bronxville, NY with day trips into the city were too many to count. Her stories from the many years of nursing at the local high school were horrifying yet also so interesting to hear. Our first memories as a family at Bethany Beach were because Gail and Dom had led the way toward retirement in Delaware. With her closer, it meant holidays and milestones celebrated together. She loved and spoiled my kids like her own grandkids on said holidays and milestones. She would host the loveliest of parties with a table full of hors d’oeuvres and Uncle Dom’s Italian meatballs. She was so loved among her groups of ladies playing golf, cards or Mahjong, of which my mom was always a part as well. She was one of the greatest cheerleaders and most consistent supporters of our efforts of supporting breast cancer patients through Pinked Perspective.
To know Gail in living, one would always find a smile and a positive outlook. To know her in dying, I found a supernatural courage and incredible peace. Since her uterine cancer diagnosis in June of 2020, the adventures of Lynn and Gail shifted to include studying scripture together and having eternity conversations. It was a dream and prayer of my mom’s for many years. In my final time of visiting with Gail, she spoke of regrets of being “a little late to the party” (of course she would use the word party-she loved them). The longer I live and the deeper I love, I know for certain that God’s sovereignty and timing is so worthy of my trust. He used a lifetime of their sisterhood to usher my Aunty Gail into the party of His saving Grace. As I sit in process of our loss, I tear to think of my mom walking the years ahead without her sister Gail by her side. But oh how I rejoice to know with absolute certainty that they will get to enjoy the heaven they recently studied together for eternity.
