Friday, December 5, 2008

Spoiling my sister and never regretting it once


The other day I was talking to my cousin Pete about the day we drove my mom and sister to see "KISS" at the Nassau Coliseum back in '78. Now you have to remember that my little sister Isabel was downs syndrome, and she loved music more than anything else. And my mom, well, she just went along with anything that her daughter wanted to do. And seeing "KISS" in concert was something my sister was asking me for months. So on the list of things Isabel wanted, that one was right on top.

And me, well, I certainly spoiled the hell out of my little sister and never regretted it for a moment. No, don’t ever tell me I spoiled my little sister, because I’ll kick your ass.

So one day I bought the tickets for the "KISS" concert through Ticketron. And my poor mom had no clue what she was in for. Because she had no idea who "KISS" was nor how loud the concert was going to be.

‘You know Ronnie, I don’t know if being
with all those crazies is a good idea”

"I saw pictures of those people and they
all look like they are out of their minds"

“Mom, you’re going to love it, and so is Isabel”.

So one Saturday afternoon Pete and I got in my old Buick, pulled out of my driveway at 399 East 4th and headed towards Long Island. My little sister Isabel was excited as can be, while my poor mom just stared out the window as we drove down Ocean Parkway towards the entrance to the Belt.

“Ronnie if I go deaf, it’s going to be all your fault”

“Mom, this is a day you will always remember as long as you live”

Well, we dropped them off at the concert and
killed some time at my friend Peter’s out in Wantagh.

Later that afternoon we drove back to the Coliseum to pick them up.

“Ronnie I think the world’s coming to an end”.
“You have all these people screaming for nuts like
that wearing makeup and sticking out their tongues”.

I just looked at my little sister. She was wearing a
"KISS" shirt and was as happy as can be.

It was a hot June night back in 1994 when my little
sister passed away. Isabel was only thirty three years
old and died suddenly in the early morning hours.

As I placed her favorite "KISS" shirt inside the casket
at Pitta's, I smiled to myself, and remembered that day
she went to the concert with my mom.

Yeah, I spoiled my little sister, and I couldn’t care less.

Ron Lopez
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ron, I'll always remember Isabel and her music. Eight tracks and cassettes of Kiss, Airsupply, and Wham. There she was sitting in the front window on the third floor, music blasting and jamming to her favorite songs.
Paul