Remembering Lisa J.

When we were young, we used to spend the summers at our family's cabin on Bainbridge Island. We had summer friends on our street, a group of kids who used to hang out and play together. We spent our days and evenings making rafts, building treehouses, playing baseball, pretending we had a restaurant or were dating the Beatles, swinging on the neighbors' swings, picking blackberries, playing dress-up, hide-and-seek or "Old Man Ghost," fishing, digging clams, skim-boarding, beachcombing, finding Indian beads, doing crafts, taking long walks on the beach or the roads around our neighborhood, and buying penny candy.

The neighborhood, as it was then

We were a close-knit group in summer, though we rarely saw one another during the school year. There was only one telephone on the entire street, and it didn't belong to any of us. We were a pack of kids who were together all summer, and then broke apart for the rest of the year. We accepted this.

One family had a son and a daughter very close in age to my sister and brother. I was the youngest (and the odd person out), so I went back and forth between the boys and the girls. The daughter of this family was named Lisa, and she was just a year younger than my sister, four years older than I am (Gregg's age). Lisa was a very pretty and lively girl.

Do I know who all of these people were, who were allowed into the kitchen as I was forced to take a bath in the sink? No.

I do know a few of them: my sister Debbie and Lisa J. are in the foreground, and grandchildren of our dear neighbors (the Sigurdsons) are in the background.

Me, Lisa and my sister Debbie.

In April of this year, Lisa passed away. I couldn't attend her memorial, but I sent a note to her parents, and have thought of them since.

Deb, our brother Jim, me, Lisa and her brother, Chris
roasting marshmallows on our beach

Tonight, Gregg and I were taking a walk after dinner, and we ran into Lisa's parents. They are a dear, kind-hearted couple, and they invited us in for a visit. Of course, we accepted. It was a treat to sit with them in their condo - they've moved out of the old neighborhood - and to hear about them, see their family photos, and talk a bit about Lisa, and our lives now.

In my condolence note, I sent a few photos of Lisa from our childhood days. In Lisa's memory, I am posting them here. I pray that her parents will have peace and comfort, and that Lisa is now experiencing fullness of joy.