Eulogy To My Sister

	Eulogy To My Sister (Michele Covey) Delivered July 13, 2002
	I want to express my gratitude and immense appreciation to Michele’s friends, who helped her so much. Also to those who helped my sister and I while my mother was going thru the same thing about a year and a half ago.
	It warms my heart to know that so many people cared about Michele. That so many went above and beyond in helping her, not just this time, but also in her previous bouts with this disease. You know who are and I thank you more than words can express.
	Now, this may surprise you, but my sister and I did not always get along growing up. <sarcasm> We are complete opposites. If you met us separately you would never guess we were sisters. There were also times we both wished we weren’t sisters too!
	A few years ago Michele and I were amazed to find out that each of us admired and envied certain qualities in each other, since the time we were little kids.
	Michele was so outgoing. She had no problem in talking to anyone. People were attracted to her. Not just because of her looks, but because she seemed to sparkle inside and out. She loved smiley faces and her license plate “smilee g” is so appropriate.
	Michele was very creative and imaginative. Growing up, one of her favorite toys was a box of Kleenex. In it, resided a family, a group of friends and with a large box of Kleenex, there might be a whole city full of people. While I just saw a bunch of twisted tissue, she saw and created a whole little world.
	Michele had no problem in saying what she thought or felt. I always though she was brave that way.
	To me, she just “dealt” with adversity. She didn’t seem to dwell on the problems. In fact, the last time I saw her before her stroke, we went and played bingo around the day she found out the cancer had metastasized through out her body. She said she didn’t need to just sit home because of it.
	I didn’t see her while she was undergoing chemo and radiation this last time. She asked me not to visit. She said she just wasn’t up for the company. However, a few days before her stroke, we talked on the phone for not one, not two, but four hours! We must have talked about everything and everyone. We planned to get together soon and watch some Monty Python. We talked about the various movie parts and skits. We laughed a lot. There also were some tears. Something we never shared before on the phone.
	I mentioned that we had a rocky relationship, however, this last year had been so wonderful with her (until her illness struck again)
	We went to Disneyland last November. It was the nicest stress free time I ever had at Disneyland.
	The day after Thanksgiving I drove down and we went to a mall. Not because we needed anything, but just to experience the chaos.
	Last Christmas, was one of, if not the best one ever. Some of it was traditional, like having Mama Cozza’s pizza while we trimmed the fresh cut tree I brought. But there was also fun and silliness. My sister had 7 trees up in her house. Only one was real the other 6 were those fiber optic lighted kind. It was odd, funny and wonderful all at the same time. After presents and dinner, a new creation was born. It consisted of a flashlight with an attached rotating disco ball, whip crème, cups, straws, plastic toys and whatever else we could get to stick to it. Of course, my sister was the one that started the whole thing. We laughed so much.
	Michele, Josh and I ended the evening with Billy Joel, while we stood on chairs and were playing various percussion musical instruments.
	To some this may seem an odd Christmas, but I will treasure the memory forever.
	What is the most ironic to me now, is that after everything that happened previously in our lives, this year I didn’t just have a sister. We had also become friends. While it makes the pain even greater, I am so glad and thankful for the relationship and times we shared the last year. Except for this illness, I had a perfect relationship with her during the last year.
	I was so looking forward to the future and the times we would share together and with our sons.
	I know her body no longer has life. I saw it. But I still feel Michele right here. I talk to her and in some instances it seems she has answered back.
	Michele, I am so glad you are no longer in pain. But I miss you. My heart aches. While you may not be here physically, your “sparkle” still is. We all have a little bit of it now.
	Thank you for your gift Michele.
	I love you.

The eulogy was written in July 2002, for my sister, Michele, who died of cancer June 21, 2002 at 9pm.