Happy Birthday to Lynnie

Today is my sister's 50th birthday. Not just any sister, mind you, but the oldest of all my siblings. That's pretty special. One of my earlier memories of my sister is when she took me a few times to have a picnic on the wide, grassy boulevards on Fair Ave., in Columbus, Oh. That was back when she was young enough to think it was fun to do that sort of thing with a four year-old brother. She was right. I also remember one year when she had a boy/girl party downstairs at our house in Columbus. I think she was about 15. They were all dancing to the popular songs of the day, and they were so cool. Especially my sister. I mean think about it, what did all these cool, older kids who were dancing my basement have in common, if not for my sister?!

And when we all piled into our 1969 Country Squire to take her to college? Everyone was bawling their eyes out on the way home as if someone killed our dog. How dare she go so far away to school?! It was almost 2 hours from home! It may seem funny, now, but it sure wasn't funny back then. I don't know about the rest of my family, but six people around the dinner table was all I ever knew! What would we do now!? Dinner was never quite the same, after that. I remember the first time she came home on a visit from college. I think she surprised us (or, at least, me). You'd think she'd just come home from a war, we were so glad to see her.

After that, I spent the next twenty-or-so years being a teenager, and she got busy raising a family. But now that's all mostly done, and we have a nice relationship, which is very rewarding for a little brother who always looked up to his oldest sister. There are many other memories, many of them birthdays (we make a big deal over birthdays in my family).

So, happy birthday, Lynnie!

Love, Your Little (er, how 'bout younger?) Brother.