It's August the 25th, another day in the year 2013 but it is also the anniversary of the 71st birthday of my late sister, Janice Scott Wilson. I come from a big family with seven of us kids in all and Janice, well she was second to the top of the "big kids" part of our clan while I was second to the bottom of the "little kids" part of the group. There was such a huge span in ages between the two boys and five girls in my family. Janice had already graduated from high school by the time I entered kindergarten in the fall of 1960. I don't have a lot of memories of her from my growing up years because by the time I was old enough to remember all of that much, she had married and moved away from home. It seems a bit strange to other people but our folks had their first baby within a year of their marriage and from that moment on from 1941-1957, they made their little family. It never did seem all that unusual to me as a kid growing up for all of us to be so spread out in age. It's just the way that things were.
I was barely a freshman in high school the year that Janice was killed in a car accident, only a few miles from her home in rural Harvey County. It was a beautiful early November, Indian summer kind of day. She was crossing over Highway 50 near the town of Halstead, KS when a semi pulling two trailers hit her broadside. It killed her instantly. I'll never forget walking down Main Street with my little sister Cindy that afternoon of the accident. We were on our way to the restaurant after school when one of our family's friends, Mable Nicklaus, found us and took us to her house to wait for our parents to return from the hospital over at Halstead. Dear Mable never told us what had happened, only saying that our folks had to be gone for something and that they'd be back soon. You know now years later, I admire her for what she had to do for us that afternoon. It couldn't have been easy for Mable to know what she did know about Janice dying and yet to not let on to either of us kids. When she finally delivered us to our folks, there were tears in her eyes as they told my little sister and I the news of the accident. Mable Nicklaus was a dear friend to us all.
It was a traumatic day for our family and one that changed our lives forever in ways that we had never thought of before. Janice's little baby girl Kimberly had been with her mom that afternoon. Although she wasn't killed, she was in critical condition after the accident. My parents brought her home to live the remainder of her days with them and that is a whole other story. November 4, 1969 became etched in our hearts and minds as they day we lost the very first of our siblings. I'm not sure that my parents were ever the same again. Janice had just turned the very young age of 27 and when she was laid to rest four days after the accident there was a void felt beyond imagination.
I had to get older and become wiser in my years, before I ever fully realized the impact her passing had upon me as a person. I remember the year that I turned 27 back in 1982 that I finally realized just what a horrible thing it was to die so very young. Now soon approaching the autumn of my 58th year, I have lived to see twice as many years as she did. Although my life has been filled with its share of ups and downs, trials and tribulations, heart ache and abundant blessings as well, I still give thanks for the gift of the many years the Lord has thus far given to me. I'm sure that Janice would have wished for the same, that gift of many years. But in her "part of the plan", the journey would be done quickly and with haste. It was her destiny to become the daughter of John and Lois Scott, a sister to the 6 of us Scott kids, the wife of Lee Wilson and the mother of two tiny little girls and once that all came to fruition, it was her time to go.
It's with a degree of sadness that I have to admit that I have a hard time remembering what she was like, in fact it's difficult for me to even remember her at all. I used to be able to hear and recall the sound of her voice but that long ago left me. Her picture, her image in my mind is very fuzzy but I imagine that she looked a lot like the rest of the Scott kids did only she was the only real blonde in the bunch of us. I used to feel bad that I couldn't remember her but now I realize that with the passage of time some things become inevitable. Although I don't really have a memory of her any longer, I have never stopped loving her as my sister. Perhaps some of you have had a similar experience such as I.
Well, the clock on the wall says it's 3:07 p.m and you now what, I think I'm going home now. If my sister Janice were still here with us on this late August day, I think she'd tell me that life is too short to not at least enjoy an hour or two of a Sunday afternoon. Although I haven't seen her now for well over 40 years, I know that some day I will see her again in Heaven. Even though I have forgotten what she looked like today, in that glorious time to come there will be no doubt about who she is.
Have a great rest of this Sunday everyone out there and enjoy your life to its fullest. Janice was living proof, a testament to the fact that in the "blink of an eye" it can all be over. My friends and family, live your lives with no regrets. Make time to live.
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