RIP Elizabeth Ann Travis,
I am Elizabeth's step sister. My mother married her father. When our families first came together, Liz and I were rivals and neither of us liked the idea of sharing our single parents or our bedroom with someone else.
It wasn't long after our parents married that one morning we woke up with a medical emergency for her dad and he was taken away in an ambulance. We both stood in the doorway to the bedroom we shared trying to see what was going on.
We were scared, crying and needing comfort standing shoulder to shoulder. As he was about to be carried out the door we both were afraid to see anything more and went back inside where we shut the door and sat on our beds. We didn't yet know what had happened or how serious of a situation it was.
As we looked at each other from across the room, I could feel her pain which must have been so much more than mine. There was an understanding that we were sharing an experience that only we as a family could have. It was the first time I felt a connection to her as someone who was to be my new sister.
When my mom finally came in the room to explain what was going on, we went to her and all three of us got long tearful hugs from each other. It was the first time we had done that, hugged as a family, and the bond we felt was based on love and caring.
I will never forget you or how in that moment of distress we became sisters "Liz."
I'm praying for all of Elizabeth's family and friends to have peace. I know how much they must miss her.
~ 2024 Wanda Hope Carter
