Last night on “The Tonight” show Leno had as his first guest Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State. What a gracious and well spoken woman! Regardless of your politics you just had to respect how she voiced her opinions as well as her honesty when she said she didn’t miss her old job. At all. She likes waking up in the morning, reading the paper and “not having to do anything about anything I read.” Imagine that!

She’s planning on writing two books. Of course every Secretary of State writes a book after they leave office, so she’ll be working on that one. But when that’s finished she is going to write a book about her parents. She grew up in Birmingham AL and was friends with one of the three school girls that died in the 1963 church bombing. She said her parents didn’t make much money, but gave her every opportunity because they believed in education. I sort of teared up when she called them extraordinarily ordinary, because that’s the way I view my own parents. They didn’t make much money either, but they gave us the best they had, and they did the best they could. Wish everyone could have  an extraordinarily ordinary childhood!

I’m looking forward to reading the book about her parents.  Somehow I think it will be a lot like reading a book about my own.

Husband’s Aunt G. died this morning. It wasn’t unexpected. But still. I can’t say that I knew her well, though she had been my “Aunt-in-law” for almost 19 years. But I knew she loved me the last time I hugged her goodbye, a week or so ago at the hospice facility. She was one of seven children, born to an immigrant couple in Northern Minnesota. Life was hard in the beginning, probably hard for much of her life, but she loved to laugh.

We’ll miss her laugh.

Today I am taking husband’s Aunt V. to her eye doctor appointment. She’s 92 and is slowly losing her vision. She can no longer paint or read very much, so TV and her bird are her primary sources of entertainment now. She is under additional stress lately as her sister, Aunt G. has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was moved to hospice Saturday. They say two weeks, which is hard to believe; as recently as last month we had no idea.

I remember when my grandma was over 90, still living in her home on the farm, using a walker to get around. During my last visit with her she told me not to get to be such an age because you outlive everyone. I think of her now as I watch Aunt V. struggle with the impending loss of yet another of her sisters. She has lost many friends and relatives in the past few years. It must be overwhelming.

So this weekend I made potato soup and banana bread for her. Such little comfort, but it’s at least something.  I’ll spend the day with her too which I know is much more valuable.   I wish I could make it better, but I can’t change the inevitable. Many of our elders are in similar positions, so if  you know someone who is elderly and alone, facing more loss, stop by or give them a call, maybe drop a note in the mail. It’s not much, but it’s something.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a sister, but I know how lucky I am to have mine.  She is as talented and intelligent and sensitive and caring.  She’s a teacher at heart, as evidenced by the fact that she can teach herself to do anything; from learning to play the bagpipes to figuring out how to rewire a light fixture and use power tools to do major repairs on her house.  She’s the family’s cookie baker and seamstress.  Oh..and her pie crust?  Well, enough said.  She’s always there when you need her, and always will be.

Today is my sister’s birthday, a day that marks the beginning of a new year, a better year, the first of many wonderful years ahead.  Today is a day she might begin to believe that difficult times will soon be left behind.   She can see the light at the end of the tunnel and knows that the future is going to be fun once again.  Fun and a lot warmer!

So Happy Birthday sister!  Here’s to the future!