I lost my favorite Sister in law a couple of weeks ago. She was the consummate single mother - adventurous, content to be who she was, full of life, and the mother, grandmother and great grandmother of nearly all of my nieces and nephews. She lived an impoverished life, but it was a trade off for the richness of her free lifestyle.
I have begun to examine my motives and purpose for living and found them severely lacking in comparison to her simple plan. I will miss her words and her laughter, her long gray hair and the way her small voice made a big difference - but everything else about her I carry with me and will flavor my life like no one else could.
She is the thin short haired girl next to my brother in the old picture at the top of my blog - pregnant with her first of five children - before single motherhood was even a thought in her mind, let alone a lifetime career.
