Azores Dreaming

This is my sister Mericia in a cabin on the island of Pico, Azores.  

This November will mark the 20th year of her passing.  I am guessing that she is under 30 years old in this photo.  This photo is significant because even though it is faded by years it is a peek into my psyche.   Check out the fabric patterns, the fading beauty, the crisp clean white counters, the oil lamp and the white iron bed.  In my bedroom sits a new iron headboard and in my mother's room sits a black iron bed.   These things that speak to my soul are planted deep in my memories and positive experiences. 

Mericia was the oldest and eighteen years my senior.   We were separated when my family immigrated to the United States and she had to stay.  I don't know if I have ever gotten over the sense of abandonment that I could not verbalize until much later.  

Through her life, she did not believe in divorce, her faith and her suffering, I found strength to leave a marriage simply because I did not want to die married to a man that let the air out of my balloon every day.  If you have ever experienced this feeling you will understand. 

In just a few days, I will be celebrating the anniversary of a very happy union. 

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill