My Sweet Memory — Sister Jan — RIP
Great sadness envelops my announcement my sister Janice passed away yesterday due to cancer complications mingled with heart problems. This caused a series of medical breakdowns, more problematic than painful, over the past week which ultimately led to her sudden passing.
What has become painful is our world lost such a wonderful and delightful person. Our world will seriously miss Janice Weddle Buffum!
She was so kind any alien visiting our planet would have taken an immediate liking and appreciation for her. She was that nice. She would have offered the alien not only the brightest of smiles, but also a piece of home-baked pie and a very good cup of coffee! The offer of a wonderful home-cooked dinner would follow. An alien to earth would be welcome in my sister Jan’s world!
Of course, that alien would also have been introduced to Jan’s dogs, cats, bunnies and whatever other kinds of cuddly creatures that hung around her homes over her lifetime of years. Her family was very much in tune with nature … and the occasional Maine moose would sometimes make an appearance.
I’m not sure how an alien and a moose would have gotten along. But I’m sure Jan would have found a way to keep them happy and interactive, perhaps with cookies, an apple or a cup of hot chocolate.
I’d also like to comment my sister was a source for strength to me. She was two years younger and thus had no choice but to follow in my footsteps. Of course, I would always set the table for what to do and she would always do her level best to stay out of trouble. Only once did she ever really tattle! Of course, I forgave her.
But the strength I’ve always admired from her is that she always supported me, no matter how embroiled I became in controversy. Often throughout my lifetime, my shoulder had been, and remains, head-strong into the winds of controversy. For example, I’ve never been one to back down to authority and politically I’ve always adopted difficult-to-understand positions. For me, I’ve always believed if you’re right, no wrong will harm you. Toward this end, I’ve been confident my sister Jan always supported me.
We had a younger sister named Lisa who also was very supportive. Lisa unexpectedly passed away a couple of years ago due to Leukemia. Lisa, who married and had an adopted daughter, was nearly a generation younger than Jan and myself. Her presence always made Jan and I feel like we were younger than we actually were. Of course, Jan eventually went the family route and raised two children who became a generation younger than Lisa.
I credit all of them with helping me to remain more on the younger side than on the older side of life. For me, this has been helpful since I’ve had my own fair share of health battles over the past decade. I’ve discovered, whether on an athletic field, socially keeping up with the Joneses or dealing with health issues a feeling of youthfulness is a mighty strong tool, an attribute important for anyone.
For my mother and father, Jan was the perfect daughter. For me and my youngest sister Lisa, Jan was the perfect sister. For her husband David, she was the perfect wife. For their two children — Nick and Hannah — she was the perfect mother; and for her two grandchildren — Otis and Myra — she was indeed the very perfect grandmother. Jan is and was all about family!
In fact, my sister Jan was the perfect embodiment of the female side of The American Dream.
She was born and raised within it. Almost as if ordained, she met her perfect husband while attending college. Together, they sought respective career paths, rented apartments until finally able to buy their own home. Ultimately, they became a perfect American family of four. Both of children, Hannah and Nicholas, followed their successful footsteps, one of whom has earned eight Emmys for contributions in the field of sports broadcasting.
The Buffums not only did good … they did great!!!
My sister Jan and her husband David were perfect Americans and they raised perfect children.
They were fortunate to seek out and take advantage of the available opportunities of the times. But they also weren’t cocky about it. They knew and understood they were among the lucky ones, that there were way too many Americans unable to share the same opportunities.
You see, when our parents seated me and my sisters at the table for the daily meal, there was a feeling everybody was achieving The American Dream. At that time, President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy, were making sure FDR’s New Deal Dream would also reach into communities of color and that it would keep expanding. Those were very hopeful days!
But for Jan and David and their children, when seated at the daily meal table, The Dream had become woefully tattered by Reagan’s Republican Trickle-Down economics. The Dream was becoming available for fewer and fewer Americans. The politics of greed and war-profiteering had firmly reared its ugly head and politicians began legislating for the profits of oligarchy rather than for the needs of people.
But my sister and her husband remained steadfast. They showed up, they carried the signs. They always supported the Shirley Chisholm, George McGovern, Fred Harris, Jesse Jackson, Paul Wellstone and Bernie Sanders kind of candidates. And, yes, like many of us, they once held great hope Barack Obama would have become the progressive president he once promised he’d become.
My sister Jan, and her husband David, dedicated their lives in the fulfillment of The American Dream! Both were dedicated towards making a better America for everybody. They not only showed how to successfully raise a perfect family, they taught children to share and they did a damn good job teaching and advocating adults to share.
I am proud of my sister, and her family!
I want my sister Jan very much alive and living for hundreds if not thousands of years to come! The loving goodness my sister stood for shall and will stand forever!
