Barbara Fuller Lumley Hines' short life was filled with tragedy. She buried two of her three small children, Paul and Michelle, in the spring of 1983. She was dating my brother at the time and hired a babysitter and spent the night at my house with my brother. My dad gave her a ride home and when they got there, there was nothing left, the house had burned to the ground, and her oldest daughter,Jen, who was six at the time, was the only survivor, her two children and the babysitter perished. She never got over their deaths, but eventually my brother and she were married and had two more children. When their youngest was a few years old, they separated. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and died just after her 41st birthday. Jen, her oldest daughter, died March 9th last year of an aneurysm at the age of 32. She also left three children.
Barb and daughter, 1985 at my house
Jen and daughter, Aug. 2004 at my son's houseBarb was more than my sister-in-law, she was my best friend, if I wasn't at home I was at her place. I was her matron of honour at her wedding and even made her wedding dress. She babysat my boys when I was working. My youngest son was a handful, but she didn't mind, when he started throwing a tantrum, she said that he needed hugs and she hugged him until he settled down. I gave up my job to babysit for her while she went to work in my place, my brother was off work because of a back injury and she needed the job more than I did. I will always remember the friendship we had and I know that she is with her children now.
Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.
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