Song of the Day: ‘Older Sister’ by Julie Lee and the Baby Daddies

#TBT to 1958: My high-school-age mom in Silver Spring, Md., with her slightly older sister, Dianne, whom we lost last week at 84. It's a shame my aunt wasn't a bigger part of our lives. But knowing that my mom and her brother and sister grew up in such an unspeakably abusive setting, I always understood why the three of them kept their distance, the mere sight of each other just too painful to revisit. I hope you're at peace now, Aunt Dianne. 

As I looked for Carly Simon's olde to her big sister(s), I came across this cover by an artist I'd never heard of. Julie Lee was born the same year I was -- and is from Maryland -- so decided it was a sign. 

Aunt Dianne (in scarf) and my mom with my brother Terence (holding Santa) and me (holding Bobby Bear, who was actually a stuffed dog?) at my great aunt and uncle's house in Silver Spring, Md., during my mom's 30th birthday/Thanksgiving 1971. My mother had finally left my alcoholic father for good and decided we needed to spend the holiday away from our Detroit-area home. 

Aunt Dianne with Dr. Tom Kearney (Grandma’s third husband) and Joe Saville (Dianne’s starter husband) at my Grandmother's house in Westport, Conn., circa 1969.