Sisters — A Genuine Love Story
On January 1, 2022, Colleen Gordley died at the age of 85. She was my aunt and Godmother. She was a mother of four, grandmother to 11 and great-grandmother to 7. She was a kind and gentle soul. She was loved by her family. She along with her inseparable sister, my Aunt Diane Driscoll, had a great impact on my life. They taught me what genuine love was. They taught me the importance of family.
Anytime I was around my aunts I was among a loving family. I believe the greatest legacy a person can leave is a loving family and friends. Colleen left a great legacy.
All her grandchildren spent a lot of time with their grandmother and grieved her loss. At the funeral two of her amazing adult grandchildren paid tribute to her. They cited that she made all the grandchildren feel like they were her favorite. Aunt Diane with her perfect comedic timing said in a broken voice, “I was her favorite”.
I am an introvert and shy. I’m uncomfortable around people. My aunts always made me feel welcome and always had time for me. I was comfortable around them and loved them. They were always there for me even though I was rarely there for them.
I always felt I had something to say, and writing was the best way to express my thoughts. I have tried to write about my experiences with working for the City of Detroit, and poverty, finances, and the economy. I have not been very successful. However, more important than anything else I can say or write about is the genuine love of the sisters in my family.
Genuine love is an unconditional love. It is forgiving. It is loving others as yourself. It is kindness and giving. It has no place for selfishness including greed, pride, lust, envy, hate and laziness. It is similar to the love that Jesus has for us.
Colleen was introverted and quiet. Diane was extroverted and the center of attention. They complimented each other. They were the matriarchs of our family, even while the original matriarchs, my grandmother Eva Lalonde and her inseparable sister Elizabeth (“Cissy”) White — the original Betty White, were still around.
Ironically, I was grieving the passage of the great actress Betty White, who had died on December 31, 2021, when I learned my Aunt Colleen had passed on. I should have known that the heavy grief I felt was due to something more than just Betty White’s death. Two great women had passed on within 24 hours of each other.
Colleen was much more than a loving mother and grandmother. She was an amazing businesswoman who helped run a successful mom and pop X-ray service business with her husband Will and my father. They employed at one time me and all my siblings and Colleen’s two sons (Kevin and Gary), her son-in-law, Bill, and my Uncle Bill, her brother. She was intelligent and provided me with wise guidance and advice in my life. She was a complete person and lived an accomplished life.
My Uncle Will was a kind and wonderful man that always made me feel welcome. He was big and strong and died much too young.
Diane was married to Don Driscoll. He was a funny man and I liked being around him. We shared a love of football and I still owe him 75 cents on a bet I made on Dallas to win the “Ice Bowl” over Green Bay in 1967 when I was 11 years old. He always had time for me.
Ironically my uncles had personalities similar to their wives. They tragically died in 2002.
My Aunts lived next door to each other for over 50 years. They had modest homes in Roseville, Michigan. We visited them nearly every holiday, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter; and on special occasions such as my cousins' birthdays. They always provided us with meals and a good time. We walked back and forth from each home. Both doors were always open and there was no fence separating the homes.
My mother, Norma, didn’t reciprocate because she had some issues. My mother was actually their half-sister, but they never treated us less. It never came up. I wasn’t even aware for the longest time that my grandfather was different from Papa even though my mother’s last name was Smith, and they were Lalondes.
Colleen and Diane along with their daughters took care of my grandmother when she had Alzheimer’s. They cared for Papa Lalonde when he had cancer. They cared for Cissy as she aged and passed on. They were there for Uncle Will when he battled cancer. They took care of Colleen’s son Kevin with his cancer. They struggled and comforted each other with the death of Diane’s son Eddie. They were there to care for my mother as she suffered with Alzheimer’s. They took care of neighbors. Ultimately, when Colleen developed Alzheimer’s, Aunt Diane, her daughter Laurie, and Colleen’s daughters Kim and Pam nursed her.
The sisters live on in my cousins Kim, Pam, Laurie and Corey.
As mentioned previously, prior to Colleen and Diane, were Grandma Eva and Cissy. They were born in Glasgow Scotland and settled in Detroit in the mid-1920s. Grandma was quieter like Colleen and Cissy was more extroverted like Diane. We spent a lot of time at Grandma’s house when we were children. I enjoyed their Scottish accent. It was magical visiting them and being around our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Grandma and Cissy always seemed to be together. They went on trips back to the “old country” (Scotland). Cissy and Grandma took care of their mother (Grandma White) when she was aged. They took care of their brother Bill when he had cancer.
Grandma and Cissy were good and kind people. They always had something to eat, a stick of gum or a piece of candy. There were many trips to get ice cream. They were there at our house when my mother was having bad times (depression). I spent some weekends with Cissy at her house with her mother Grandma White. I will always remember the warm milk she gave me and watching the Lawrence Welk show which I think were designed to get me too sleep, which they did.
They established our family her in America and kept the family close. Cissy preserved family memories with her photos and home movies. Cissy also kept in touch with parts of the family that settled in New Zealand and those that stayed in Scotland.
My Grandma passed away in 1992 and Cissy passed away in 1998. Papa Lalonde died in 1999. I will always remember the grief he had when Granma died. He truly loved and missed her. Colleen and Diane and my cousins cared for all of them until the end.
I was fortunate to marry a kind and loving woman, Diane (coincidence?), who was like my aunts, grandmother and Aunt Cissy. There’s no irony that her mother (Sandy) and sister, Aunt Ronnie also are inseparable sisters that come from a good and loving family. Her Aunt Ronnie is so much like my Aunt Cissy. She took care of her parents in their final years, and she was there to care of her sister Mary.
My wife’s father, Walt, and mother also provided us with genuine love. They gave a lot to their community and family. Sandy and my wife cared for Walt through a long and horrible disease
I’m blessed and graced to have experienced the genuine love of these sisters. The world would be a better place if more people experienced this kind of genuine love and shared it with others. Thank God for my wonderful family!
