Rosie

My sister died too young. I knew her because we grew up together, but never really got to know the real Rosie. We just didn’t have enough time. Of course, my idea of too young may be different than a lot people’s. Rosie was in her early sixties, but she looked and acted like she was in her forties. She had a round face, freckles, and a ready laugh.
My sister was a nurse. She was compassionate to her patients and kind. I always told her she had “nurse” hands. Her hands were like my dad’s. His hands were small and gentle like my sister’s. When either one of them patted you with concern, you knew that they meant it.
I think, sometimes that when people die, the ones they leave behind tend to characterize them as being absolutely perfect. My sister was not perfect. She had a sharp tongue once in awhile. She had a sense of justice that gave her stares in the grocery store if someone cut in on her in the checkout. But something like that gave me stories to tell about her.
I will never forget one day she and I went to the gas station to get gasoline. It was a full service station so Rosie told the man to check her oil and the fluids etc. Rosie’s car was old and beat up looking and had some interesting sounds that originated from under the hood. The old man did as he was instructed and came out grinning and said, “Lady, you got a heck of a whistle in there!” For some reason that really made Rosie angry and proceeded to tell him how she felt about the whole situation. I thought it was hilarious and told Rosie so. She grinned and said that she thought so too, but that old man should have minded his own business.
Another time Rosie, Mom, and me went out to breakfast in downtown Sioux City. We did that only occasionally so we always enjoyed it. We ordered our food and after Rosie ordered her food, the waitress gave Rosie a little kidding about how much food she ordered. Ooh, I don’t think that waitress ever did that again. Rosie let her have it. That time Rosie was right and the waitress was absolutely wrong.
My most fun time I had with Rosie was on our annual shopping trip for Christmas presents. We had Mom with us and had just come out of the Dime Store. All of a sudden
Rosie looked up towards the sky. Then she pointed up to the sky and didn’t say a word. Of course, Mother looked up and continued to stand just shy of the busy store’s doorway. I saw immediately what kind of trick Rosie was pulling on Mom. It was so funny I had trouble not laughing out loud. Finally after several minutes and actually continuing to look up at the sky as we were walking down the sidewalk, Mom finally got a clue that there was nothing to look at and that Rosie had pulled a really good joke on her. Rosie pulled a good joke on half the people that came out of the dime store too. Most of the people were looking up at the sky to see what Rosie “saw.”
Rosie and I were so far apart in age, that she and I didn’t live together for too many years. There are lots of “Rosie” stories that I will tell along the way.