We fought like cats and dogs as kids,
But made up as we grew.
Yet loved each other all along,
That, at least, we knew.

Though only three years older than,
She thought it made her boss.
But I did not take orders well,
And ev'ry line would cross.

She married young, and not so well,
Divorced then right away.
He used her to get papers so,
Stay in the USA.

Then tragedy struck later on,
Blood vessel in her brain.
Six months in a coma as,
Our mother prayed in vain.

Though over thirty years ago,
It still hurts to the bone.
A fighter to the end, you see,
Was my big sister, Joan.