Kathy

My family owned the Green Mountain Lodge in Red River, NM, during my growing up years. It was an older lodge with a large lobby area and small living quarters on the first floor. The lobby had a fireplace and several sitting areas – it was a great place to gather or curl up by the fire. My mom turned the two guestrooms on the first floor into her beauty shop. The second floor had eight bedrooms with a bathroom between each room that was to be shared. In the early days of Red River’s resort business and today’s world of Bed and Breakfast businesses, the Green Mountain would have been perfect. But in the late 60’s and early 70’s cabins with kitchenettes and your own personal bathroom were more popular. My parents chose to rent several of the rooms to college students who worked through the summers in the resort. We had several college girls who shared a couple of rooms upstairs. We had a few boys who shared a room that was separate from the main lodge. We called that room the "fox pit" for some reason. As a side note, Ray Wylie Hubbard was one of the boys who shared the fox pit. As fascinating as Ray was, it was the college girls who held my attention. I often hung out in their rooms or sunbathed with them on the roof of the garage out back. They laughed and told great stories. They shared clothes, and just always seemed to be having fun. I called them my summer sisters.

From the earliest time I can remember, I wanted a sister - one to share with. Every birthday wish, every falling star wish, and every prayer was that I would have a little sister. I would have settled for a pet monkey, but I really wanted someone that I could share things with as my summer sisters had done. By the time I was 12 ½ years old and my mom was 39, I was beginning to run out of hope of ever having a sister. But then it happened. Mom announced that she was to have a baby. I knew it would be a girl – no doubt! Sure enough on August 29, 1970, all my prayers and wishes were answered. Mom gave birth to a baby girl. They let me name her Kathy.

There was such an age difference; we did not get to share clothes or a room or much of anything. She was six years old, when I got married. It was not exactly what I had in mind, but at least I had a sister. Now that she is a grown woman with a family of her own, we have lots more in common. She is the girl my mother never had – thank God – and the sister I always wanted.
Happy Birthday Kathy!

The picture is me and Kathy on Wheeler Peak, tallest mountain in NM, in 1987.