Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Sisters

Thirty-seven years ago today, I could hear my father running through the house about 4AM. He came into my room and said that he was taking Mom to the hospital to have the baby and would call me when it was born. Back in those days, no one knew the gender of the baby until it came. Mom said that Dad went running into the hospital yelling, "She has them fast!" About an hour later, Dad called to say that I had a baby sister. I woke my brothers to tell them. We were all pretty excited. After school that day, I walked to the hospital (well over a mile) to see Mom and my new baby sister. She was not all that I had hoped. Her hair was gooky and she had Uncle Eli's upper lip - scary. She was long and thin like a snake. I told Mom that she was not very pretty. What does a twelve year old know? My parents let me name her Kathryn Lee, because I had been pulling for a sister for a long time. She turned out beautiful and still is. As most of you know, it is a game between my brothers and sister to call each other on our birthdays trying to be the first caller. This morning while I was planning this post, my sister called me (I had told her that it was expensive to call my cell phone while in Canada). She said that she was not going to let me get away with not talking to her on her birthday. Pete was the first to call this morning - he wins again. I wish I could pull out an old photo of us - like the one where I am standing with my date to some formal event when I was sixteen and my date is holding Kathy. I thought she was a pest, but what does a sixteen year old know - she turned out pretty well. You can see last years old photo of us in the August 2006 archives. Happy birthday, Kathy!

10 comments:

Shelly said...

Happy B-day to your sister!! Great pics of the city. It is expensive, we have been a few times for soccer tournaments and it was always one of the most expensive trips.

Shelly

Anonymous said...

And to think I get to be a sister too! Cheezam! Happy Birthday Kathy!

unkawill said...

You don't hear of siblings getting to name the new memgers of the family very often, but it happened to me in a similar way Ialready had three sisters and when my mom had a boy 5 years my junior i wad allowed to christen him Jimmy.

Thanks for bringing back a fond memory.

Bag Blog said...

Hey unkawill, I thought you would be on your way by now. What the heck is happening with you?

I have a brother who is five years younger, too. Talk about a pest growing up. My parents swore that he would grow out of it, but he never did.

Buck said...

A day late and a dollar (US) short... that would be me.

Happy Belated Birthday to Kathy!

Anonymous said...

My brother (who's 6 yrs. older than I am) got to name me too! Wondered what life would have been like if he had said, "let's name her Godzilla" or some name like that?!

Bag Blog said...

"Zilla Barker" - has a nice ring to it.

Anonymous said...

I want it noted for the record that I called Kathy second on her birthday morning. It's true that you spoke to her first, Lou, but she initiated the call to you. Yours in "the spirit of sibling rivalry taking priority over the occasion". :) --Craig aka "Mr. Zilla"

Bag Blog said...

Dear Mr. Zilla, or is that God to your friends? I think Pete beat us both - only because I am a cheapscape that would not spend the extra roaming charges from Canada. The every practical sister.

unkawill said...

BB, Due to a lack of available seats on the airlines we have been sitting around twiddling our collective thumbs. TBS I fly on wendsday.