This year marks eight years since our youngest sister, Cathy, was torn from us by unspeakable violence. I find myself better able to think about her, or at least I can remember her without so many tears coming unbidden. Something she always loved to do was to bring a birthday cake for Alex and for Lynne’s birthdays, especially when they were little.  She would bring the one with the most dynamic colors of frosting, and plenty of it. This way, when the kids dove into their cake, their skin was dyed for days and that gave her no end of entertainment.

Oddly, I think about her every time I pass through the bakery at the grocery store. The flowers on Lynne’s cake this year also brought Cathy to mind. And a short time ago, when I hiked the high desert with Alex and Rikki, I know it was a place she would have loved, along with the brewery!

We go on, and she goes with us in her way. We miss her still.