After one and half years of my birth, on 29th June 1952 a young 'princess' was born in our family. It was the end of a long wait of my parents for 25 years to have a daughter. She was a pretty baby girl adored by everybody and was named Lissamma (Kochu). She had deprived me the breast milk of my mother, but I found in her a constant companion from early childhood. We grew up together and became inseparable. I remember when I got a job in 1974 and was leaving Changanasserry, she cried the whole night and told me that she couldn't stay home without seeing me. Slowly, her influence on me had increased and she started performing the functions of an elder sister even calling me 'Mon' (affectionate way of calling a younger one).

After completing her secondary school education from Saint Theresa's School, she moved to Assumption College, Changanasserry from where she graduated in Economics. Since our School lives and College lives were parallel, we used to share many stories, she being studied in a Women's College and me mainly in a Men's College, and I was very protective of her. In faith, she followed the footprints of my parents, and the church had become an integral part of her life. Her meek and humble character had influenced the people around her.

Her marriage with Raju (George) son of Maliyil Mathaichen was blessed on July 6th 1975.It was a defining moment for the family. Raju is a man of impeccable integrity, a voracious helper to church and charity, an eminent educator revered by his peers, students and parents and a great inspiration to all those who met him. After her marriage, my sister's influence in all our families had slowly and steadily stabilized and she had become an indomitable person. Even though she is the youngest, she had taken over the role of a Matriarch and started gluing the family together. She was in the labor room when my wife delivered my daughter to cuddle the baby in her hands, and then served as my daughter's Godmother. Her special love towards me was always felt in the blood, and felt along the heart.

The brothers are at their best when they are friends without any inhibitions of relationship. There is nothing to hide and lose in real brotherly friendship. A sister is a joy, a joy which endures forever. The affection derived from her is exuberating and incomprehensible.

A family is the greatest institution God has created in this world. It is a bubble filled with warmth and care, laughter and joy, sorrows and comforts, oneness and togetherness. I was walking with this family for the last sixty-five years. We ate from the same pot, drank from the same jug and derived strength from each other. They had blossomed flowers of wisdom and blown winds of loveliness on my path. I prostrate before them.