Everyone in my LIFE has been egging me on to read “The Hunger Games”. This is a bit different than that fluffy “Twilight” fad, this has cultural ramifications and is a futuristic satire, personal favorite theme of mine. So it makes sense anyone who knows me has recommended me to read it.
Problem is, I can’t….I read the synopsis and even watched the trailer for the movie.
And I can’t. I won’t be able to handle it.
Why? Let me wind it back about fifteen years…..
This is my sister. She’s two years younger than me.
1997, and I had just been diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. My sister had just graduated from her business college course, she was living with my mother and looking for a good entry-level job.
When I was diagnosed, I was sick. Real sick. I could hardly breathe while I walked, I’d gasp for air during a simple conversation. My joint pain was so bad I couldn’t walk, and ended up in a wheel chair for the better part of a year. I was fatigued so badly I could barely wash myself in the bath. My sister had to help me wash myself and get me in and out of the tub, I was so weakened.
My sister, instead of taking the time to find her dream job and staying with our parents, found a job that paid her less than she was worth and moved both of us into an apartment that was wheel-chair accessible and full of amenities that I desperately needed at the time.
She took time to take me to all my Doctor appointments.
She woke early to make sure we got there on time and waited through countless hours in waiting rooms, labs, procedures, I can’t even count how many.
She helped me bathe and groom myself. Cooked for me. Made sure I had my prescriptions. Basically became my own personal nurse when I felt very abandoned by my family. I’d had a huge falling out with my other sisters, and my mother’s second marriage was crumbling. My father lived in a different town, so sometimes it felt like just me and her.
It couldn’t have been easy, when she put her life on hold to care for me.
But when I saw the trailer for Hunger Games, and Prim’s name was called, when Katniss yelled out “I VOLUNTEER” I didn’t see Katniss Everdeen, it was my sister, calling out to Lupus to put her life before mine.
See, in real life, sisters WILL do that for each other, I should know.
Dee volunteered.
So thank you. From the bottom of my heart. I can never, never never repay what you did for me, but I do hope after all, you’ve got your life back.
Happy Birthday, Deanna Provost, I love you so much.
Mimis Venom and Honey ® 