Time passes but the pain don't fade

My niece, my goddaughter, my Ginabug was killed in a car accident on August 13, 2004. She was three weeks shy of her 18th birthday. Her mother, my sister, and I picked out Gina's senior pictures from the proofs after she died. Gina never saw them. I often wonder which pictures she would have picked out. She was so beautiful. Of course, I am biased, but she really was. And she was a force to be dealt with. I know it is a cliche, but she really was a shooting star, burning bright and hot and far too quickly passing out of sight. It is so hard to look forward without her. But my sister does, she keeps going. But I know she will welcome death. So will I. We won't look for it, neither of us; but we won't fear it or run from it.

Ain't Technology Grand?

There are not enough hours in the day to explore everything the web has to offer. Flickr is great--I can share photos with my family without the cost of printing them. I could create a deck of cards using trip photos, I can scan older photos and share them.....and there are people out there, far more talented and creative than me, who share their ideas and programs so everyone else can experience the fun of creating, well, almost anything! I am certain that long after this Learning 2.0 process is complete, I will remain a flickr user. Thanks!

What's my sister's name?

November 11, 2007

My sister has worked for the same company for 13 years, but until recently, I had never had the need to call her at work. But it finally happened, and I called and asked for Cheri. There was a pause, and the person at the other end asked "Do you mean Cheryl?" and I said yes. When my sister came on the line, she was laughing, and I asked her what was going on. She told me that her boss was confused because no one EVER calls her Cheri, at least not twice. Later, when I had time to think about that, I wondered how I could not know that. In over 40 years, she never told me that she preferred Cheryl to Cheri. Now that I know, I try and remember to call her Cheryl, but more than 40 years of habit are break. She never complains when I slip, and I guess that makes sense, because I don't care what she calls me either, as long as she calls me her sister.