My Sister Beth

My sister of the heart,Beth Guimaraes,was from Brasil. She lived with my family during my  Junior year in high school. Growing up with three brothers,I had often longed for a sister,and Beth was it!We became very close and remained so until the day she died,last year.

Beth and I had many adventures together,even after she went back to Brasil. I visited her there a few times,and became an honorary Brasilian girl.We lounged around her coffee plantation,wore string bikinis on the beaches of Rio,went to Carnavale,and delivered food to the poor.

Beth came up here to Illinois a few more times;once ,to meet her namesake,my dughter Beth.

Our last two rendezvous were in Europe;she had married Christian Dambock,a German,and they made their home in Frankfort. She and I met once in Venice and once in Prague. In Venice we drank too many of Hemingway's famous drink,the Bellini, ate way too  much pasta,walked for miles and miles aroubnd theis wondrous city,and took a hilarious gondola ride with a new gondolier named Marco who not only sang but kept crashing us into buildings... In Prague we marvelled at the gorgeous Art Nouveau buildings, the fabulous work of my favorite artist,Alphonse Mucha,visited castles, attended classic music concerts and took another fun evening boat ride.

These pages were done for the Soul Journal project....it felt good to be able to think of her without crying, for once. I chose vibrant colors because she,and Brasil are so very colorful.

How I miss her.