This poem is shared in memory of our dear “little” sister, April Renee Ball (WVU ’84) who passed away on Aug. 30, 2017. You may read her obituary here. As David Haas sings, “All is brought to life in Jesus Christ.”

April Renee (Barrick) Ball

When, from St. Mary’s Hospital

Sparky returned home in the snow,

she carried with her

the scarlet-faced baby

that forever, to Mickey and me,

would be Little Sister.

Walking home from school with you

from first grade on,

I thought would last forever.

But then I chose a path in 1974

which, to this day, remains a mystery.

On a return trip home you smiled away

as the speakers in my orange Beetle

blasted Uriah Heap against your ear drums.

In time you found a man

I considered worthy – as if it mattered.

Together you gave me two of my best friends –

your daughter, your son

my niece, my nephew.

Though separated now by timely death,

apart physically but present in spirit,

the bonds of love between Little Sister, Big Brother and Sister

are held together by memories,

and our dearly departed Mother and Father.

With a prayer of joy and a tear in my eye,

I daily thank God

for January 10, 1962.

© Michael M. Barrick, 2017.