Maybe not so much at first, perhaps. On this day, 61 years ago, I lost my coveted spot as an only child. I was now, one of two. A fifty percent drop in Love Futures. I had all the spotlight for three and a half years and now had to relinquish half the spot on stage. It took me years to recover.
Despite my sister's innate talent for upstaging me for the next fourteen years until I couldn't take it anymore and ran away - to college, we have since become rather good friends, although still a bit competitive.
She got straight A's in school (maybe not, but that is what she would have everyone believe), and I did OK (whoa!!!...just noticed how the abbreviated spelling for OKAY is the same as the abbreviation for our home state of Oklahoma...like Twilight Zone or something - di di di di), but not quite that well. This is a small enlightening example of the powers of creative writing with a glass of Merlot and the clock hands at midnight....My sister never did anything wrong (when my Mom was looking) and I hardly did anything wrong, but unfortunately, but when I did, it was mostly when my Mom was looking. My sister often would sweetly ask my mom if she needed her to do anything for her - like bake a cake or iron a blouse - while I was in the middle of a spanking or worse yet, a lecture for a minor infraction of some mysteriously socially unacceptable behavior that I obviously didn't understand.
My Mom always made me have painful direct eye contact with her during all lectures, while my "cuter than a button" (what the hell does that mean, anyway) sister stood behind me, sweetly interrupting, to yet again, prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was indeed the golden child. To not lose the dreaded eye contact with my Mom, I developed the ability to swivel my head 360 degrees rapidly, so I could glare the black-stare-of-impending death at my sister behind me and still get my head back around quickly. so as not to have my Mom notice and hereby extend the penalty of extended lecture time. Did y'all (dipping into my Okie roots) know that a picture of me exploding when she did that, is the basis for the most famous scene from the Excorsist?
She had the First child to make my mom a grandmother. I provided the First grandson. She had three girls. I had three boys AND a girl. I got to be a grandfather, now she is about to be a grandmother...this should slow down the getting-old jokes. How old do we need to be to stop the madness....I did not spend my 61st birthday in a place that starts with the word PRUNE....just sayin'.
However, I did spend my 61st recovering from months of Cancer radiation/chemo treatment with an encouraging JOKE card (that is how we spell LOVE in our family) EVERY SINGLE DAY from my sister (when a lot of friends stopped checking in on me at all), wistfully looking at a huge poster of hundreds of hot-air balloons lifting off over the Napa valley and a gift certificate from my sister to me to take the trip when fully recovered. At that time, I might not have seemed a sound financial investment, but she made it anyway...I couldn't let her down...so, I recovered and took the flight.I am very GRATEFUL for the good fortune to have her as my sibling. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Sharon Kay......
note:.......while Sharon is expecting her first grandchild (Congratulations Erica/Travis), I am expecting my third (Thanks Ian/Jen)...but who's counting).....
rlw
No comments:
Post a Comment