My Homage to Cindy

Instead of trying to cover her entire life, I will talk about a short

period of time when we spent a lot of time together.

Cindy, one of my two older sisters and the one living at home with me during the mid-60’s, was a close confidant and an important influence in my life. She was six years older, worlds wiser, and an exciting force to be around. I idolized her.
As I look back and reminisce I can think of so many great qualities she embodied. Here are a few:
Cindy was cool, strong, fun, brave, generous, fearless, an independent thinker, and much, much more.

How cool was it to have a big sister who had a fast English bike?

Then, a big handsome horse named Question Mark?

A gorgeous Russian wolfhound called "Dort"?

A moped that could chug all the way up Rockleigh Road to Palisades [scary!], a VW Bug to tool around in.

And, finally, coolest of all,

a handsome, bearded boy friend with a MOTORCYCLE?! WOW!!

Cindy ruled my world!!

What Cindy did, I wanted to do, but never quite could:

She loved hanging out at Pegasus Stables, barrel -racing horses. She would ride only the wildest horses and usually rode bareback.

Onetime, I remember, she rode Question Mark, bareback, right into the Hudson River-Brave only begins to describe her!

Other amazing, fearless and fun moments together included;

Hitting Palisades Park and riding the Cyclone Roller coaster 13 times in a row-Believe it or Not!

Another time, Cindy took me to Nyack to the 11 PM showing of a new film, just opening called…"Psycho!’ The title might have tipped us off-I will never forget the two of us screaming our heads off and driving the VW Bug home-FAST.

Our summers in the Berkshires with our family, were spent having fun playing Monopoly and card games endlessly. Cyn seemed like a regular Annie Oakley picking off chipmunks with her BB gun-then it was on to Lake Garfield where loved to fish and she was the star of the waterskiing crowd. [I couldn’t even get up!]

When I think of Cindy I have to mention the word Generous.

She was so giving-she gave the gift of her time-she listened endlessly to all of my problems [as she continued to do all through her life] and gave wise counseling to her little sister whenever I needed it! Being so generous was probably what I will remember most about her—I mean she even helped me get babysitting jobs when she had outgrown them at the Hoban’s and the Gates’s.

Cindy always shared and if you needed a ride, a pickup or whatever she never said ‘no’-she was there for you, no questions asked.

When Cyn got a job with a local animal hospital where she earned the princely sum of $90 a week for hard, hard work she even floated me little loans—which I really appreciated—and probably never paid back. She was truly kind!! Cindy was a free spirit—with her tight jeans and boyish figure—who else would dare to go topless when we went to the beach? No one I knew could pull it off except Cindy.

After Cindy and Henry became a steady couple the fun continued. They loved Greek food and, once again, amazed me by taking me to a Mediterranean restaurant in NYC and ordering an entire lamb’s head-probably Henry’s influence. We ate the whole thing including the eyeballs!

Cindy was also the resident guru in our house in Rockleigh-practicing Transcendental Meditation with Henry, daily, on the porch. She would analyze every lyric that Bob Dylan or John Lennon could come up with and listened to their music day and night.

One song that I will always connect with my sister and those wonderful, golden, growing-ip together years is "imagine" by John Lennon. Every time I hear it I think of her and how much fun we had together.

I loved her very much.
 Hilary Somers Deely
Saturday June 30th 2012