Thoughts About Sister (by Lyneva Grauberger)

                                           Ruth Mitchell kissing scarecrow, Grants Pass, OR

Sister (Ruth) was nineteen years old and gone from home at the time I (her baby sister, as she liked to call me) was born. I was about six months old when we first met. I will always be grateful that she took it upon herself to see that a studio photo was taken of me at age six months, in addition to taking a number of pictures of me on her own camera.

She was soon gone to China and out of my life and didn't re-appear until I was about four, and as she told it, I did not want much to do with "this stranger" until I had a chance to get acquainted with her.

I still have a few of the little cards that she sent in letters from China, which were about the size of a business card, and were very colorful. When she returned from China, she brought her three sisters graduated sizes of camphor wood chests. Dera was recipient of the larger one, Sara received the medium-sized one, and being the youngest, I got the smallest one. I remember how it smelled of camphor wood, and I was thrilled with it. To this day, I have some childhood treasures stored in that little chest.

I dont remember being around Sister much until she, Bruce, and six-month old twins came to visit us in Grants Pass in the summer of 1955 (when I was 10) before they sailed for New Guinea. The ensuing years while the Blowerses were in New Guinea brought only those blue, thin paper air letters which made for excitement in our house when one arrived.

We were reunited with Sister and her family when they came to the States on furlough every five years. By this time I had learned through her letters, mostly, about her flair for writing, and the "romantic" side of her outlook on life.

I don't remember when I ceased calling her Sister and began calling her Ruth. I DO remember that "Sister" was so much a part of our vocabulary that brother-in-law Joe Keen referred to her as "Aunt Sister" after his daughter Molly's birth. I always thought that was hilarious.

I remember how Ruth always made a big fuss about folks sending her greeting cards. She felt that it wasn't money well-spent, and also said how she had the habit of turning the card over, even before reading it, to see how much money folks had wasted on a card for her. But there is no doubt that she truly enjoyed those cards, especially ones with beautiful flowers!

After she and Bruce retired and settled in Florida, she decided that it would be a good thing if she and I would have a phone visit every Saturday morning. We set an appropriate time, and every Saturday morning I could expect my phone to ring at 8:30 Colorado time, and I'd say, "Hello," and she would cheerfully say without fail, "Welll, good morning!!" I am already missing those phone visits, because they enabled us to actually get to know each other better after not having that privilege for a lot of years.

It will be my privilege to continue our conversations some day in the future when God calls me Home. In the meantime, I miss my Sister.

Lyneva Joy Mitchell Grauberger