Pat Kelly:
CLASS OF 1968
Southern High SchoolClass of 1968
Baltimore, MD
Pat's Story
All About June- I tried to write this before but you can see how far I got. Since there is no place on this site to honor our deceased classmates, I thought instead of writing about me, that I would write all about June-my baby sister - Southern High, Class of 1969. It's just passed the 4 yr. anniversary of her death and her new life in Heaven (even through she's been an angel since the day of her birth). She was born on Oct. 10, 1952 to Ken and Doris Barlow (21 months after me) followed closely by 2 brothers. She was beautiful with bright blue eyes, thick brown hair and a smile that would melt your heart immediately. I adored her from the very beginning and we were inseparable throughout our entire lives. We could finish each others sentences, knew exactly each others likes and dislikes and if she inhaled, I exhaled. She always strived to do her very best with any goal or situation and if it required 100%, she would give it 200%. She was always thoughtful, lovable, extremely generous, good natured, gracious and kind with a heart so big it's a wonder it fit into her body! She loved her family, her animals, music, movies and taking pictures in that order. We both attended schools P.S. 203, 239 in Brooklyn and Southern High in Baltimore City. We both took business courses and sang in the Choir together. Everyone thought that we were best friends (and we were) because we didn't resemble each other. She was drop dead gorgeous!! She was 5'2", 105 lbs. with long hair and she thought she had 2 major flaws (and she corrected both). The first, being extremely shy and the second, her glasses. She hated them with a passion, so she would only wear them in the classroom, etc. when nesessary. She did very well in school and graduated a year behind me with her goals and dreams all lined up. Her first job was in a sign shop working in the office where she finally saved enough money to get contact lens - goal#1. Goal #2 was a car and not just any used car. She had her heart set on a red Mach One Mustang. She got it but not by working in the sign shop but by being a Playboy Bunny at the Light St. Club. She served drinks and played bumper pool. The pay was awesome but the job was horrible. She did meet her future husband (Tom) there through. He was the drummer and leader of the band. Goal #3 was to sing in a band and after many rehearsals of learning songs and simple chords on the keyboard, she quit the club, resumed her office work and worked part time in the band. They did so well that they had a beautiful house built with a large in-ground pool in Whitehall, Goal #4. She should have been an interior decorator!! She would ride the 2 hr. round trip to see all the family or take Mom to the movies or met us for dinner, never complaining because she always love to "take a drive". She was Godmother to my kids (Dawn and Jimmy) and you would think they were hers the way she would shower them with gifts. She never wanted kids of her own through. Around 1995, our Mom started having some stomach problems and June and Tom eventually sold their house and bought a house in Pasadena to be closer to the family. She was working only her office job now because she too was having vague medical problems. In Jan. 1997 our Mom was diagnosed with stomach cancer. She lasted 18 months, long enough to see her first great grandchild born. My granddaughter Lauren was 10 weeks old when Mom passed away. The entire family was devastated. Six months later our Dad had his first stroke and June, in between jobs, took him in. Months later he moved back to his home because he did not want to be a burden to any of us. Between June, me and Dawn, we managed to clean, cook, shop, etc. for him.
June then started an office job working with handicapped ad...Expand for more
ults and by now was slowly going down hill and her doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. In May 2004 her lungs began filling with fluid. After a second opinion from the Mayo Clinic, she and I were told that she had a rare bone and blood cancer know as Multiple Myeloma that usually starts in the back and not in the lungs. We went into the ladies room and cried and she looked directly at me and said " you know the drill, you know what to do" and that she was "glad it was her and not me or our brothers because we all had kids". She was 51 years old. She was told that if she went on high doses of experimental chemo that she would have a 25% chance that the chemo would work and that her age was the only thing going for her. She took the chance and the first round worked. I remember her crying and smiling with her thumb up and our Father on his knees kissing her hand. This great news lasted about 2 weeks. Her doctor tried everything he could possibly think of but nothing would work. After that, all her beautiful hair fell out except for one little tuff on the side. She was nauseated, weak, down 50 lbs. and the pain was getting worse, so much so that by Thanksgiving all she could do was to lay on my bed to be with the family. It was around this time that our Dad was also diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. I think June worried more about Dad that she did herself. It felt as through it was a race to see who would die first. I prayed Dad would go first so he wouldn't have to bury his child, but that wasn't meant to be. Christmas 2003, I gave June a gold cross and a gold charm. It was a broken heart that said "Little Sister" while I wore the other half "Big Sister".
June and Dad spent their last Christmas holiday at Dawn's house. She was in her red pj's with her oxygen tank and by this time the tumors were in most of her major organs, bone marrow and blood. All of us were trying not to fall apart for the sake of the 2 grandkids. I remember them getting into Tom's car and June's face up close to the window, waving and crying all the way down the street and I knew that we were running out of time fast. On Feb. 18, she was laying in her bed talking to me and Dawn and she was so calm, serene and peaceful. We kept her company because Tom was told to make funeral arrangements. Two days later on Jan. 20, 2004, she died while in a coma at U. of Md. hospital. Now Tom and I had to tell my Father and family. She was buried with a ton of flowers and my part of the broken heart that says "Big Sister" and her gold cross. I wear "Little Sister" and in that way "we are still together. I wrote her eulogy with Jimmy's help but I could not deliver it. Two days after her burial, Dad had a larger stroke and 21 days later he died with me by his side. We buried him on Valentine's Day with a mountain of red and white flowers. By the end of 2004, my childhood home was sold and I am now the offical "Keeper of Stuff". So you see, the beautiful girl that you saw walking down the hallway at school, that people thought was stuck up, really was an Angel, just blind without her glasses. As I re -read this story, there is no "All About June" without me. Her death, out of all of my family members that have passed, affects me the most. I have lost My Best Friend, The Keeper of My Secrets, The One Who Truly Knew Me The Best. I can only hope that when it's my turn to die, I go with as much Class as she did!!!
Pat (Barlow) Kelly - Big Sister Class of Southern High - 1968
What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so limited.........
It cannot cripple Love
It cannot shatter Hope
It cannot corrode Faith
It cannot destroy Peace
It cannot kill Friendship
It cannot suppress Memories
It cannot silence Courage
It cannot invade the Soul
It cannot steal eternal Life
It cannot conquer the Spirit.
The author is unknown.
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