The Epiphany

Today’s one of my sister’s birthdays, and if you’re the oldest in your family, as I am, you know which one that is. Yep, the one born after you. Still, I enjoyed a couple of lovely gap years with my parents all to myself until “Cissy Marie” arrived on the scene.  My mother supposedly caught 2 1/2 year-old me occasionally “bonding” with my younger sibling, telling her “I love you Cissy-Marie” while I gave her little smacks across the face. From photos of us as toddlers together, it’s apparent she grew on me eventually. By the time sisters three and four arrived on the scene, I’d pretty much resigned myself to sharing the spotlight, and usually enjoyed having them around. I realize now that my sisters were the best gifts my parents could ever have given me.

31 Days Hath January

31 days hath January and we’re already on Day 5! We never did get our anticipated snowfall the other day, but rather a light, non-existent dusting overnight, the only evidence of it to be found in the stingy drifts in corners of porches and along the eaves of a kitchen roof. I don’t want to give up on the promises of what I consider a good January just yet, but why for the love of an-as-yet-unmet Supreme Being, does the snow always end up hijacked or stuck in an almost 24-hour major traffic jam somewhere in the godforsaken South, where they never get snow? Meanwhile, I pine for it here. And they say April is the cruelest month.