gobsmacked
wow. so, I got to have dinner with my sister Amy (and her new husband Eric, and Jovino) this evening, and man oh man was it AWESOME! we had a great time catching up and laughing about this and that, but we also had some moments of really deep communication which I will always treasure. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true.
we had a wonderful talk about our beloved dog Yankee (who I raised from a puppy, and trained - he was exceptionally smart and loyal and sweet, but I gotta say I did do a great job too.) we both (ok, all) still miss him, though he's been gone for years. we also talked a bit about other family members' lives, and she let me know that she really wants us to stay in contact and be a part of each others life - which touched me deeply and made me so HAPPY!
when Amy and her sister Beth (non-identical twins) were born, I was in 7th grade. my dad and stepmom already had a 4 year old boy, so as the oldest I was drafted into all manner of childcare/childrearing responsibilities. you know that thing they made you do in junior high, where you had to carry an egg around with you for a week (or until you - hopefully accidentally - smashed it) to impress upon you the immense amount of responsibility and, well, inconvenience that goes along with having children? well.. I kinda lived it, for reals, through being drafted into live-in (indentured!) childcare staff.
I must admit, parts of it were actually pretty cool. I learned a LOT. and the great thing is, they all still like me! so now they are getting married and having kids and I get to be the auntie (the freaky auntie, natch). ;-)
seems like a pretty sweet deal, from where I'm standing.
we had a wonderful talk about our beloved dog Yankee (who I raised from a puppy, and trained - he was exceptionally smart and loyal and sweet, but I gotta say I did do a great job too.) we both (ok, all) still miss him, though he's been gone for years. we also talked a bit about other family members' lives, and she let me know that she really wants us to stay in contact and be a part of each others life - which touched me deeply and made me so HAPPY!
when Amy and her sister Beth (non-identical twins) were born, I was in 7th grade. my dad and stepmom already had a 4 year old boy, so as the oldest I was drafted into all manner of childcare/childrearing responsibilities. you know that thing they made you do in junior high, where you had to carry an egg around with you for a week (or until you - hopefully accidentally - smashed it) to impress upon you the immense amount of responsibility and, well, inconvenience that goes along with having children? well.. I kinda lived it, for reals, through being drafted into live-in (indentured!) childcare staff.
I must admit, parts of it were actually pretty cool. I learned a LOT. and the great thing is, they all still like me! so now they are getting married and having kids and I get to be the auntie (the freaky auntie, natch). ;-)
seems like a pretty sweet deal, from where I'm standing.