My name is Joanie Hartigan. Sister Marilyn Uline was my eldest aunt. By the time I came along in 1964, my Auntie Marilyn had dealt with countless small children of questionable behavior. Recently, I’ve come across a dozen or so letters written by my grandmother (Harriet Uline) to Marilyn. In the two brief times my Grammy mentioned me, the adjectives “mischievous” and “wild” are noted. I imagine Marilyn was not too impressed by this. She was a seasoned teacher with a solid bag-of-tricks. My first memory of we two together is just relaxing on the couch in the screened in porch at the farm. I was coloring and she was simply conversing with me as if I were a miniature adult. I remember feeling pretty darned grown up.

When I was about nine or ten, Marilyn invited me to bring a friend to stay overnight in her Chicago apartment. How exciting! I couldn’t believe my parents approved of this worldly adventure. The evening was filled with two little girls watching all the television they could ingest as well as a couple of mouth watering authentic Chicago pizzas. Surely, a night to treasure.

At age sixteen, I became the subject of much hand wringing in my family. Besides honors high school classes, I also had a job, car, and quite the boyfriend. I remember Marilyn remained unruffled and treated me the same as always. When the local Octoberfest came around, she slipped me a ten dollar bill and told me to “Go have fun!”. That was a large chunk of change at the time and I was grateful for her generosity.

Marilyn lived a full life and I am certain that she left this planet a better place than when she arrived. Ralph Waldo Emerson defines success in this way,”…to leave the world a bit better… by a redeemed social condition, to know that one life has breathed easier because you have lived, that is to have succeeded.” Marilyn truly achieved success and now has gone on to help us in ways we cannot even imagine.