Friday, July 17, 2020
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AUNT LEE LEE , I ALWAYS BELIEVED YOU WERE AN ANGEL AND NOW I KNOW YOU REALLY ARE. THE PHILLIPS WOMEN WERE BORN WITH A VERY SPECIAL GIFT OF STRENGTH AND COMPASSION. WE CAN ONLY HOPE OUR GENERATION CAN USE WHAT WE LEARNED FROM YOU, TO BECOME THE WOMEN YOU WERE. YOU WERE SUCH A LARGE PART OF MY FOND MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD. I REMEMBER STAYING AT YOUR HOUSE ON KEARNEY STREET WHEN KAREN WAS BORN. I WAS PLAYING IN THE SCHOOLROOM ATTIC AND AN AIR RAID SIREN BLASTED. I WAS SO SCARED AND YOU RAN UPSTAIRS AND COMFORTED ME. WHEN SHANE WAS A TODDLER YOU WOULD BE SO EXCITED TO BABYSIT FOR HIM, WHEN I HAD TO WORK A DAY SHIFT, AND I WOULD SIT AND HAVE COFFEE WITH YOU AND UNCLE VINNIE. YOU WERE SUCH A GOOD WIFE TO UNCLE VINNIE AND BRING HIM OVER TO VISIT MY MOTHER AND OUT OF LEFT WING HE WOULD SAY " MY WIFE IS STARVING ME" OR" MY WIFE IS TRYING TO KILL ME". WE WOULD ALL HAVE TO TURN OUR HEADS TO LAUGH, KNOWING YOU WERE TRYING TO WATCH HIS DIABETES AND HIS NEW MISSION TO EAT ANY SWEETS HE COULD FIND. THE MOST PRECIOUS THING YOU DID, WITHOUT A THOUGHT, WAS TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR BABY SISTER, MY MOTHER. SHE WAS SO NEAR DEATH AND YOU TOOK HER INTO YOUR HOME FOR MONTHS, AT A TIME WHEN GAIL AND I WERE WORKING SO MANY HOURS.
SPEAKING OF THE TAX BUSINESS. I REMEMBER WHEN DEBBIE TOOK YOU, WITH HER, TO MY OFFICE AND I FORGOT TO HIDE THE CHOCOLATE CANDIES. DEBBIE HAD TO SHAKE YOU DOWN UPON LEAVING, BECAUSE YOU HAD CANDY ANYWHERE YOU COULD HIDE IT. WE COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW YOU WERE ABLE TO TAKE IT AND EAT IT. A WEEK LATER I HAD A CLIENT COME IN AND SHE WENT FOR THE CHOCOLATES AND THE DISH WAS FULL OF EMPTY WRAPPERS. SHE SAID " WHO WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?" I LAUGHED AND CALLED DEBBIE AND SAID MYSTERY SOLVED. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING YOU SAID TO ME WAS THAT MOTHER TOLD YOU THAT I WAS HER ANGEL.KNOWING THAT ALLOWED ME TO ACCEPT HER DEATH WITHOUT ANY GUILT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING IN MY LIFE. YOU WERE THE MATRIARCH OF OUR FAMILY AND KNOWING YOU ARE WITH DONNA, VINNIE, UNCLE VINNIE ALL OF YOUR SISTERS AND BROTHERS BRINGS SOME COMFORT. YOUR LOVING NIECE,CARMEN
