Judy Lipson

I am a sister who sadly lost both my sisters. I lost my younger beloved sister Jane died at age 22 in an automobile accident in 1981, and my older beloved sister Margie passed away at age 35 after a 20-year battle with anorexia and bulimia in 1990. I am the sole surviving sibling. As the Founder and Chair of “Celebration of Sisters,” this annual ice skating fundraiser honors and commemorates the lives and memories of my beloved sisters to benefit Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. The event is scheduled the first Sunday in November as Jane’s birthday was November 6th and Margie’s November 8th. We celebrate all lost siblings, their legacies as they live on in all of us. Since the inception of Celebration of Sisters in 2011, I have embarked on the journey to mourn the losses of my beloved sisters that had been suppressed for 30 years. The process unmistakably the greatest challenging time in my life proved to be the most empowering, enlightening and freeing. Now that I am allowing my sisters and their memories to return to my heart where they truly belong, I am re-discovering myself, happier and more at peace. Ice skating is a sport shared by me and my sisters and a chord throughout my life. It has brought me full circle to pay tribute to my sisters and bring me joy, peace, healing and the recipient of the US Figure Skating 2020 Get Up Award. My memoir Celebration of Sisters: It is Never Too Late To Grieve will be published in December 2021. It is my goal to advocate for sibling loss to insure surviving siblings are neither alone nor forgotten.

Articles:

Cherished Memories Are a Balm for Grief

Jane’s birth on November 6, 1959, is one I don’t remember. I have been told that at age three, I was beyond excited at the arrival of a baby sister. Jane, a tiny bundle of beauty, pink, and softness, shone gorgeous locks of golden blond hair. She was the true baby of the family, adorable, and the apple of everyone’s eye. The resemblance to my daughter Janie, her namesake, is uncanny. I loved having a younger sister. I now became the middle of three girls, a role from that day forward defined me. We shared a room until she reached […]

Who Am I Now that My Sisters Passed Away?

Who am I now that my sisters passed away? Not an easy question to answer. My life has evolved through many unpredicted punches, most powerfully by the loss of my treasured sisters Margie and Jane in their young adulthood. As I plow through my cobwebs and entanglements, searching for the core of the authentic middle girl sandwiched between Margie and Jane, I have lost my path numerous times and desperately needed to navigate the direction back home to myself. My independent streak allowed me to attend overnight camp for eight weeks at age nine, step on a big bus for […]

Birthdays … Beautiful and Bittersweet

I turned 60 in October, the day filled with a range of emotions. Etched in my brain and soul was the last time I saw my sister Jane, to celebrate my 25th birthday. For 35 years, my birthday held a cloud, never the joy of celebrating me on my birthday, always the pain of the loss of my cherished sister and nine years later, the loss of my beloved sister Margie. The tragedies and challenges of my life undeniably altered who I am, are part of me, and at 60, I have persevered, embracing the sum total of it all. […]

Years of Love: Measuring a Life After a Loss

Years astound me. Forever etched in my mind a calculation of time, reminders, anniversaries, dates, and birthdays. I still find it hard to believe August 1, 2015, marked the 25th anniversary we lost my beloved sister Margie. To celebrate my 25th birthday in October 1981 marked the last time I saw my beloved sister Jane who passed away November 7, 1981. I am 59 — longer than the sum total both my sisters lived; Jane passed away at 22 and Margie 35. My daughters are now 29 and 30. Where do the years go? At times so quickly and others […]

It’s Never Too Late to Grieve

How do I make peace and forgiveness with myself for not grieving and mourning my sisters Margie and Jane for 30 years? It is more the regrets, of years lost, of memories forgotten, of a soul missing, of dreams shattered, of a hole in my heart. Was the the pain too hard? I got used to being so alone and having no one to share my grief or my sisters with. I had no one to walk with me on a path so complex and confusing I did not know how to navigate. I also lacked understanding of being my […]

Celebration of Sisters: Full Circle After 30 Years

Celebration of Sisters, an annual ice skating fundraiser to honor and commemorate the lives and memories of my sisters Jane E. Lipson and Marjorie E. Lipson to benefit The John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital. Ice skating is my passion, solace, peace, and where I have come full circle in my grief to remember and pay tribute to my sisters. I lost my beloved sister Jane at age 22 in an automobile accident in 1981, and my beloved sister Margie at age 35 in 1990 after a 20-year battle with anorexia and bulimia. My […]

Photographs Help Sister Heal After Sibling Losses

There is an expression originating from a Chinese proverb: “One picture is worth ten thousand words.” My vote is that one picture or video is worth ten thousand memories. When I lost my beloved sisters, Margie and Jane, I scrambled to find pictures to compose a collage, to place my beloved sisters’ images into frames. I feared I might forget them. Now, after 30 years, I went through that exercise again, designating a photo album for each sister and one album for collective photos, to capture chronologically the lives of my beloved sisters. I am desperately seeking some lost memories. When […]

Unleash the Silence: Compassion for Surviving Siblings

Losing my beloved sisters Jane and Margie impacted my life in ways I did not comprehend until years later. Their passing shaped the person I am today. With hard work, support, guidance, and the cheering of many, I re-discovered Judy after 30 years. The topic I choose to unleash, although extremely sensitive, needs to be heard. When a family experiences the death of a child/sibling, the entire family suffers a tremendous absence. Losing a sibling instills an immeasurable void. Very often, surviving siblings face an arduous burden of taking care of our parents and are not allowed the liberty of […]

Keeping Lost Siblings In Your Heart

I am a sister who sadly lost both my sisters. Although I will permanently have a hole in my heart, I am learning to embrace my beloved sisters to encompass an important place in my life. My sisters Margie and Jane are forever part of me, who I am, past, present and future. My heart is opening, and I am welcoming my sisters back into my heart where they truly belong. I suppressed the grief of my beloved sisters for 30 years. In looking at pictures of my beloved sisters and me, I try to recall the beautiful memories of […]