Happy Birthday In An Unhappy Time

Whenever I think of growing up with my sister, Beth, for some reason I think of this picture.  What's interesting about that is I have NO RECOLLECTION of when this was taken, but it sort of sums us up in a nutshell.  In the throws of cookie making, my sister...ever meticulous.  Me?  I'm a whirling dervish of rolling pin, dough, and flour disaster.

I'd be lying to you if I said that my sister and I always got along when we were growing up.  She was, is, and always will be 5 years older than me. ;)  Also, as she was a girl, so we didn't have a whole lot in common in terms of interest(s).

We became very different people.  I'm a reckless dream chaser.  I've gone through life at "Mach  2  with my hair on fire," and she's the ever-conservative pleaser to all.  I'm the guy on stage doing shots with the band.  She's the wife, mom, and Junior League President.

As the song goes, "I'm an angel with no halo and one wing in the fire."  Beth's the Sunday school teacher and on the front row during the sermon.

You get the idea.

That being said, I'd be lying if I claimed that I didn't love her with every fiber of my being.

We don't talk very often, and we haven't seen each other in a couple of years now, but if she needs me, I hope she knows that I would drop everything and move Heaven and Earth to be there.  Her husband is my brother.  Her children might as well be mine.

There's something about that first woman you share a bathroom with.  And long before Debbie, there was Beth.

March 20th is my sister's birthday.  Birthdays should be a joyous occasion.  It should be a time when life is celebrated.  Oh did I mention Beth is a 2-time cancer survivor?  So when I say life should be celebrated, I mean it.

Her birthday today is occurring in the midst some pretty dark times.  And I'm not sure when I'll be able to describe any day in another, more positive way.  However she's been a light in the lives of her family and friends for....years.

It would be so little brother of me to give her age. <g>

Happy Birthday, Boog.  I love ya forever and wish I could be with you to celebrate.