my sister and cancer

My sister and cancer
 
Maybe it was in 1946
when the winter was very hard
the big lake outside town froze solid
my brother had given me an old pair of skates
something with leather binning, I think
I could get them on
A young girl came; she was sweet and kind
helped to fasten the leather straps 
I asked my brother who she was
She is different from the girls on the street
who were giggling a lot and smoking in the basement 
My brother said she was my dad's sister
at home, I asked my mother about my other sister
she looked angry and cut me short
Everybody smoked in my youth ashtrays on every
table, even in our doctor's waiting room
He, the doctor eventually stopped, was in a bad 
mood when my mother brought me there
I had a growth on my chest that made him concerned
He cut it out but looked nervous, I had to go
for a blood taste every fortnight and the growth
left a scar 70 years later, it was back at the same
 spot, it was cancer
The surgery at the hospital was a more serious 
environment, surgeons wearing masks 
Anyway, the clump was removed, and again I had
to have a blood taste for a while
Today, I was thinking of my father's daughter 
were she alive today, she would have been about
ninety-five, if she is alive, does she remember meeting her youngest brother.