Though we need to grieve your loss
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.
John O'Donohue
My Sister
July 7, 1930 - January 24, 2015
Dorothy Alice Ruth (Thompson) Duguid
A bright light in my life
A few memories in tribute....
Though our mother bequeathed to us both
her love of threads and fabric
and a portion of her wonderful creativity
my sister received the gift in spades;
and along with it
my mother's generosity
and giving spirit.
My house, and that of her children and grandchildren, I'm sure,
is full of her beautiful pottery, her sewing projects and her exquisite needlework.
Out in the garden, for the last thirty years,
a ceramic owl she made has kept stray cats at bay
and has sheltered under the peonies and iris and various shrubs.
and she had a lovely garden
Five and a half years younger than me
we did not have the closeness growing up that
sisters born closer together would have shared,
but later, especially after we lost our mother
who she had cared for so dearly and patiently in her late teens,
even though we lived far apart there was a
relationship that I cherished.
She was the little one at home when I first started school,
and for companionship she had a
loyal and loving bull terrier who was with her constantly.
As one of her daughters has remarked she is probably
running free in the fields of Heaven
with Jabby at her heels.
I like to imagine that image!
She had such a busy and energetic life -
As a teen-ager she and a friend started a lending library in our home
(school libraries at that time were strictly for research, and not for the
pleasure of reading)
a wonderful cook, - her recipes are treasured in my handbook of cookery;
she made her pottery skills and her kiln available to the classes she taught;
and in later years she was a caring health aide and a comfort
to the sick and elderly.
I was in awe of her craft room, where her creativity
abounded in so many different and ingenious ways.
And so pleased when she took up and mastered the Computer
and we were able to share all sorts of digital endeavours.
She was so proud of her children and her grandchildren,
and took such delight in them, and in conveying tales about
their visits and their accomplishments.
After a decade of suffering and sickness
I think that death, in the end, was a friend to her,
and I cannot begrudge her the release from pain,
but oh, I shall miss her - her laugh,
the news of her family, our conversations about
politics and religion and children
and just everything that sisters talk about with a dear familiarity.
Rest easy, my lovely sibling.
