Rain in Georgia

Fourteen years ago, my youngest sister, Ludwina, committed suicide, exactly, to the day, three months before her 36th birthday. She was born July 20th, 1962, and died April 20th, 1998. She was born in Belgium, and died in Georgia. For more than 10 years, a poem sat like a raw rock in my heart , and when I was in therapy, finally, 10 years after her death, I was able to let go of the sorrow, and write down the poem I wanted to dedicate to her:

Rain in Georgia

It is raining in Georgia today
Will all the water in Cohutta
Wash away your grave?

Asphyxiation the death certificate read
But our parents' bitter marriage strangled
Your soul long before
The lasso you put around your neck.

It was a hot day in April.
Make me some lemonade mother, you said.
Allright, but you stay put.
I'll be right back.

The sugar didn't win that day
The bitter lemons no one would taste
Soured in the sun
As you swung from the highest beam
In mother's and father's garage
Of that lovely Georgia home.

You wore a blue bathing suit
And made your exit quietly.
No one drank lemonade that day.
The bitter-sweet concoction sat
While you made your final get away.

Trudi Ralston, March 30th, 2009.

I am grateful to my therapist, Judith B., for her wisdom and encouragement. I finally came to peace, after what seemed an endless torment, with Ludwina's death.