IRENE GLOSHINSKI R.I.P.

My niece, who we called "Reenie" passed away suddenly from complications of her diabetes, at age 49. An unexpected and tragic death. My heart goes out to her boyfriend and her sister especially. My late sister Joan and brother-in-law Joe adopted Reenie when she was a baby. And I knew her for her entire life.

I'm grateful that I moved back to Jersey after forty years elsewhere, so that I could reconnect in a deeper way and spend more time with relatives and old friends. Reenie and I spoke regularly on the phone and I am so happy that in recent years she seemed happier than ever, especially with her relationship and life.

Her adopted mother, my sister, died at around the same age, 50, from complications of a lifetime battle with her childhood diabetes, diagnosed when she was seven at a time when that still meant a death sentence (the doctor told our parents they shouldn't expect her to live beyond her teenage years).

What a mystery that this beloved mother and daughter passed around the same age from the ramifications of the same disease despite their not sharing any DNA. There are ties stronger than "blood."