You are missed

Just wanted to take a brief moment to say Happy Birthday Luba!

I love you and miss you.  More than I probably thought I would and I know my mom misses you as well.  You were the closest to thing to a sister she would ever have.

Life can be ugly and take people away too soon - this is a lesson learned yet again with you. 

Unfortunately I don't have a picture to post of her but I do have one up in my house that I love.  She is loaded down with Nordstrom shopping bags with that big classic Luba smile - you can almost hear her laughing in it.      

Today lets remember the things about Luba that drove us all nuts that we look back on fondly now.

She was the Queen (oh yes she would like that) of taking pictures.   Wherever Luba was there was a camera and she was in front of it instructing the picture taker (usually Joe in later years) as to how it needed to be taken.   I must say however that she rarely took a bad picture.  

She was also the one person you could count on to drop everything and be there for you in record time.   When my dad had his heart surgery she swooped in to take care of my mom.   She made it all easier for me as well as my mom.  And when I graduated from college she showed up for my party with a US Post office bucket full of hard alcohol.   After all it was cheaper in California right?  We didn't argue with her - it was just easier.  Those US Post office buckets were always with her when she came to visit.   With everything from alcohol to zebra tomato plants.

Childhood memory --- driving in downtown Portland.   On a one way street.   What's memorable about that you might say?  Well you see the one way was going to the other way.  But that never stopped Luba.

Another childhood memory --- coming home for Hawaii (as we did every Christmas) to cold, rainy Portland.   Luba would be at the airport waiting for us with our car and hot things to drink and hot food to eat.  

And another --- when I was little every time she came to visit she had a new job - or so it seemed.  My grandfather said he was going to wall paper a wall with her business cards. 

She truly was a force of nature. 

One day I hope they find a cure to ALS.........