....an empty space

Yogis,
My mom was one of three Cardoni girls. As the oldest she picked up a lot of responsibility as a teenager (like quickly learning to drive to become the family’s transportation) when her father died suddenly. Her middle sister Gloria was six years younger and the youngest a toddler.

This week Gloria died peacefully during the night…..leaving behind an empty space, not only for that family, but all of us.

Whenever we hear of a death of someone close there is that moment when time stands still. There is the time before and then the after. I still remember those moments for other passings.

As my mom's Maid of Honor

Then what follows is the flood of memories. All of them. The good and the difficult.

Gloria was larger than life with a big personality. Perhaps it was her middle child position. When in it, she commanded a room, with a big smile while she told you what to do. She laughed a lot and had her opinions. She was both my godmother and confirmation sponsor and though she gave me a bible, I can’t say we had any talks on religion, but spirituality …yes.

There was one three-year period when we lived in Atlanta at the same time as her family.  This was during my formative years of 9 to 12. Those memories run deep.

Like how she and my mom took tap dancing lessons and practiced on our stone floor in the foyer. Or the baked Alaska she would make when we were over. The time her dachshund ate my hamster, and we all lay on the couch crying, or mom watching soap operas with her when I returned from school each day. She was generous.

As a high-spirited high school English teacher she changed many young lives. I always wish I had been in her class.

But my lifelong memory is how at every opportunity, she and my mom would take the mic to sing ‘Tonight you Belong to me’ in harmony. I know, I know, you…..

At my wedding

Memories lead us to photo albums, family texts, phone calls and ultimately, peering into our own lives. Changed once again with this new empty space.

Om,
SARAH