24

I had a lovely piece written for today, but then it dawned on me this morning that it was saved to my laptop which is currently taking a vacation in Hawaii. I wish I were in Hawaii with it. Whatever. Today is my older sisters birthday.

There is nothing quite so special as having a sister near your age. We were inseparable when little and almost all of my memories are shared with her.

She was companion in play. She was by my side in every imaginary adventure I have ever been on.

She introduced me to mystery novels. She read aloud to me my first ever Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie mysteries.

She made everything a game. At lunch time we weren't really eating buttered toast with baked beans...we were Oliver Twist in the workhouse. At bed time we weren't just brushing our teeth...we were standing in front of the mirror pretending that we were in an infomercial for "Bright & Shiny" tooth whitening. Yes. We played peculiar games as children.

She and I were such talented song writers at such a young age. Together we bounced up and down on our bed and jammed to the hit song, "Tennessee: a Different Country". Together we wrote the music and the lyrics to the poetic ballad, "Lily of the Field".

She let me sneak into her bed at night when I was four since I was too scared to sleep myself. She would cover me with her ten thousand stuffed animals so Mom wouldn't find out.


She has been my best friend for 21 years. Happy 24th Birthday, Natalie. :)