Last week, an icon passed. My Aunt Patti (Sissy) died peacefully, surrounded by family.
Well, maybe not 100 percent peacefully. You see, the loudest toilet in the world was located in her hospital room. I’m not kidding y’all. It shook the walls. As the nurse was pronouncing Sissy dead, my cousin Willie was in the bathroom and flushed the toilet. This caused a lot of cry-laughing. Sissy would either have loved it or perhaps said, “Fuck. Can I not get my moment!?” Either way, she went out with a bang.
Sissy was like a second mom to me. I loved her with my whole damn heart. She lived her life unapologetically and always said what was on her mind, no matter how crazy or off-color it happened to be. She was a queen.
There are so many funny Sissy stories. She and my mom were always into something. Something that usually resulted in one or both of them peeing their pants from laughter. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I’ve heard one of them say, while in a fit of laughter, “Stop it! I just peed my pants!” These two never got together without wearing a maxi pad. They were sisters and besties.
My favorite Sissy story involves my mom, of course, and a rented U-Haul truck. They were moving some crap and had rented the truck. As Sissy was trying to get out of the truck, a problem arose. Wait! I should probably tell you that Sissy was tiny. She was all of about four feet eight inches tall and weighed less than 100 pounds. Anywho, as she was trying to slide out of the truck, she got her pants and underwear hung on the seat adjuster. There she was left just dangling.
Mom came around the truck to her, screaming for help and laughter ensued. She was flailing about with her legs not touching the ground, yelling about being cut in two. Mom had to hoist her up from the seat adjuster and free her. My mom isn’t much bigger than Sissy. So, it was not an easy task—especially whilst dying laughing. Yes, pants were peed in.
Sissy was 80 when she left us. This is a lot longer than she was expected to make it. You see, about 25 years ago, she was diagnosed with very little blood flow to the brain. Her main artery was clogged and her brain had developed what her doctor called tributaries. We give credit to all my Granny’s cooking with lard for this development. It was not a good situation. It affected her short-term memory and gave her the freedom to say any damn thing she liked. She really embraced that.
I’m so glad we had her as long as we did. She was a delight and an absolute gift to my life. I could tell Sissy stories for days and still never do her justice.
We are a fairly small, but tight-knit family. It hurts like hell to lose one of us. I worry so much about my mom. They were inseparable. Alas, such is life and Sissy lived a good one. One full of funny stories and lots of love. I’ll miss her terribly, but will count that as a win. I love you, Sissy. May you come back in your next life as the queen you truly were.
Angela Traver
What is this blog about? Well, it's a general blog, but it is also a very specific blog. If you get that reference, you get a gold star! I have been a public relations professional and writer of press releases for more than 20 years—primarily in the booze biz. I decided to do some writing for fun and embrace the humor that gets me through most days. Hopefully it will make you chuckle—or at least smile. I’m a certified crazy magnet, and more than a little nutty myself, so buckle up. Also, I have two vices—profanity and red wine/whiskey. You’ve been warned. It should also be noted, that I’m a HUGE Bob & Sheri fan. I’ve been a listener for more than 20 years. This opportunity is a dream come true and it may have made me cry. That being said, I cry at everything. If you are into booze, dogs, food and/or knitting, hit me up on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter (although I’m terrible at Twitter and it scares me) @kyspiritsgal. You can also find all my previous blog posts at www.kyspiritsgal.com.
