Happy Birthday Chickie!!!

Fifty two years ago, on my 5th birthday, my sister was born.  At first it was a novelty and I was pretty excited.  But when she came home from the hospital it wore off pretty quickly.  She cried and wanted attention all the time...or so it seemed to my 5 year old brain.

As the years went by it seemed like we were always at odds with one another.  She was still a baby at 5 and I was a pre-teen at 10.  She was a pre-teen at 10 and I was practically a High Schooler at 15.  It probably didn't help that we always had to share a room, so tastes and need for privacy tended to keep us at odds with one another. 

My mother would say to me at times, "you should be nicer to her, you're going to miss her someday".  I'd look at my mother like she was out of her mind.  But you know...she was right.  My first year in college was in Virginia and my family was in England.  And for some reason I began to miss hearing her voice and listening to her talk about her friends and her day.  I was surprized as anyone to realize that she was such a big part of my life and I couldn't just pick up the phone and call her like you can today.  At that time there were no cell phones and if you wanted to make an overseas call you had to wait for an overseas operator.  This was not easily done on a phone in the hallway of a dorm and that doesn't even include how much money it cost...and you'd have to have it in change.  Yes, I missed her big time. 

I think that we started to begin to see each other as equals when I began to talk of getting married.  She'd had a steady boyfriend for a while and although they were both finishing up college, they knew that they would be getting married as well.  We both had very strong ideas about our weddings.  I wanted something simple and no fuss and she wanted the church and the dress.  Both of us got exactly what we wanted and it was perfect. 

She and her husband have been married now for almost 30 years.  They have 2 wonderful daughters, one who is a second year Vet student studying at Texas A&M and the other who is finishing up her senior year at Sam Houston State majoring in communications.  Both wonderful women in their own right. 

But my sister is the rock that I lean on.  There is no one like her.  I love her so fiercely.  She's a great mother, wonderful friend and someone that I know will be there for me anytime or anywhere. 
We share a birthday now for many years gladly and  one of us will call the other sometime today and sing the Happy Birthday song.  It has been our habit for decades now. 

So Happy 52nd Birthday, my sister, my friend.   I love you truly.