But You're Motoring..

It's one of those calls that when you hear the voice on the other line, you know it's not good news. "Your sister's been in a very bad car accident" my Mother choked out between the tears. "We don't know if she's going to live.."

The day before, with dawn approaching, a group of surfers came upon a beach below a cliff in Palos Verdes California. They saw a wrecked car on the sand, near the water, then a body. An hour later a Medevac helicopter lifted my nearly dead sister to a hospital. For hours they lost her, then brought her back. She was a mess. Her car had rolled off a cliff the evening before. She took a drive along the coast to watch the sunset. She spent the night hanging onto life.

I flew out to L.A. By the time I arrived, she had been in and out of surgery for about 48 hours. She would have many more over the next few years. My sister is lucky, she can walk, she can do the basics. But an accident like that takes its toll. She got breast cancer last year and is fighting that now. It seems her whole life has been a non-stop barrage of whacks.

I remember when my sister was a beautiful California blond. Thin, tall, stunning. We were all born in California, but she looked the part better than any of us. When I call her now, she's often in so much pain she can hardly talk, she sometimes sobs. It's real sad to remember when someone was so full of life and beauty, but then know they're suffering so much each day.

The song "Sister Christian" is pretty much a standard cheezy 80s song. But it has an oddly deep impact on me. The first time I heard it, I thought of my dear sister. And I can't easily listen to it now without feeling the pain she's suffered through a good part of her life. The lyrics and melody seem to fit.

Babe you know
You're growing up so fast
And mama's worrying
That you won't last
To say let's play
Sister Christian
There's so much in life...Don't you give it up
Before your time is due
It's true
It's true yeah