I was born on August 4, 1955, Diane’s first birthday. And she bested me in cards, board games, and all kid activities. Grades and test scores were never close, but I grew.
When I finally beat the wily left hander at ping pong in the garage on La Calma, Lon regulated my exuberance…that’s not how you treat your sister.
Diane was not materialistic, even though she had an eye for the finer things. Nothing better than life on the ranch in Di’s intellectual hierarchy, even though the California family business we left behind , potato chips, was somewhat prosperous.
Of course, she went from prestigious Orange County, California National Merit Scholar at Cornelia Connolly High School to Cochrane High School valedictorian seamlessly. And so it was, always understated, top of the class.
Privately, she was pretty persistent in pointing out “errors and omissions.” The best way to illustrate this trait is her passionate but contentious relationship with English professor, John L Doty, Dad’s twin brother. Not only was Diane mathematically adept, she had a vast literary cannon, which included reading Tolstoy in Russian; and, it appears she occasionally unsettled Uncle John by robustly contesting his learned observations.
Her infectious laugh came from her great knowledge. The Saturday before she passed, I was talking to her on the phone and she was laughing about the parade of student nurses…a genuine Diane laugh.
She was curious till the end; and, much like her kindred spirit, the aforementioned Uncle John, she had a zeal for learning.
Across the vast reach of time, we’ll see you soon, dear sister Di
