When I close my eyes to envision my loving sister Violet she is wearing a big smile. She loved to laugh and to make others laugh with her. It was her first nature.

I’m certain most of the siblings heard our Mom and Aunt Meta tell the story about Violet when she was a little one living on our Grandparents farm in Oshkosh, WI.

There was an orchard adjacent to the farm house; it was where the very young calves were kept. Mother, Aunt Meta and Grandma were in the kitchen when suddenly they heard the loud bellowing of a calf. They looked out the window to see Violet yanking the calf’s tail and within a second the poor calf took off running with Violet hanging tightly to the tail and laughing as the calf pulled her around the orchard. Even as a small child she was fearless.

Not only did Violet make one laugh she was a great mentor to me. Most of us can recall how fond Violet was of clothes and how she loved to wear the best that there was.

When I turned 17 years old I went to buy my first pair of high heel shoes. I went downtown in Milwaukee, to make my first real grown up purchase.  Now keep in a mind a young girl of 17 does not have a great amount of money to spend on such an extravagant item, of course I went to the stores that I knew I could afford. After much searching I found an affordable pair, I hopped back on the streetcar carrying my new treasure.

I entered the house and Violet asks me what I had bought, I told her a pair of high heels, then I put them on to show her. Her response was “Oh my God” those are the shoes a street walker wears. I was devastated, how was I to know the styles of a “street walker?”

Violet saw the hurt look on my face and said to me, “come along we’ll go back to the store and get your money back and I’ll help you pick out something better”. We did just that and the new shoes she picked out were much more elegant and more expensive and she paid the difference in the price. I wore those more elegant and more expensive shoes for many years to come.

What I learned that day and what has stayed with me since, my sister cared about me and she truly was one who helped me through the years. Thank you my dear sweet sister, love your little sister, Thelma