Tuesday, November 18, 2003

Twenty-three years ago today...

...A kind, 7-year-old boy was awakened out of deep, peaceful slumber in the middle of the night, and dragged to the local hospital for no apparent good reason. While sitting in the waiting room, mostly by himself, he became naseous and threw up a couple of times. What was so important that a boyish, innocent second-grader must endure such? "Well," his Dad explained. "You're going to have a baby sister." While the thought of having a younger sibling around the house had seemed like a fun idea before, at this inhuman hour, even a day in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe would've probably not garnered an enthusiastic response from the young lad. The only thing on his mind was getting home, getting in bed, and getting back to sleep.

Well, he ended up going to spend the rest of the night at a friend's house. The call came the next morning that he had a new sister and she had been named Kimberly. He didn't care much for the name, and he went off to school and forgot mostly about the news. The first few years weren't all that bad. This "Kimberly" was fun to play with and didn't seem to bother the boy much. She would sometimes do funny things. But as she got older, there began to be a power struggle in the household. This previously non-speaking, non-caring creature begin to speak. Before, the boy had gotten all the attention from his parents. All the toys that were bought were bought for him. And if he wanted to watch cartoons, he got to watch which ones he wanted. But now, half the toys (or more than half, it seemed) were bought for her. There was a fight for control of the television in the afternoons after school. This sister was becoming a nuisance.

Sure, there were some fun times. They'd play video games and play outside. Sometimes the boy would even let his sister win. But there were some knock-down, drag-em-outs, too. Sometimes, it seemed this sister only wanted to make the boy's life miserable. So he would return the favor. As years went by, the power struggle changed from the television to control of the phone. The girl would not even answer call waiting when he was expecting a call. What nerve!!

But alas, the two slowly matured. The boy moved on, and the sister was left at home. Months and years went by. Then one day, or maybe gradually over time, a funny thing happened. The two became friends. They began to have dinner together. They began to call each other with problems in their lives, and to talk about things, and give each other advice. And suddenly, all those silly fights and arguments seemed a million miles away. And he realized that they had finally become what a brother and sister were meant to be.

And the boy thought to himself, "You know, maybe this sister thing isn't so bad after all."

Happy Birthday Sis. I love ya!!!

I recommend everyone have at least two children if you can. All the relationships we have, family and otherwise, are unique, but the sibling relationship is very rewarding.

"I try to walk the sunny side of the street. Don't let no shadows tangle up my feet. There ain't no trouble that we can't rise above, with a handful of faith, and a heart full of love. Carry on. Carry on. What don't kill us makes us strong... carry on..."

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