Catching Up

Today is my brother's birthday.

When I was a child, my brother would tease me incessantly on this day about "catching up" to my age and passing me. As a little girl who tried to hold her wieght with age against a not-so-much younger or smaller brother, I had to hang on to the only power I perceived I held. These conversations would make me furious.

Kelly has always loved to tease. I remember April Fool's day most vividly from my childhood because he always remembered this day. He quietly plotted for weeks. I remember one particular morning when he proclaimed there was so much snow there certainly wouldn't be school today. I remember flying out of bed and down the hallway to the window where he stood sliding in next to him...only to discover a beautiful, sunny spring day.

"April Fool's," he grinned.

Perhaps is it s brother's duty to torment his sister. He did an excellent job. He taught me to laugh at myself, though I still can't pull off a prank as well as he did.

However, today I am more than willing to let him catch up and pass me. As a matter of fact, I have decided this might be the year when my birthdays stop, after all wouldn't it be kind of me to wait for my brother? I know my mother used to tell me that as we ran out the door sometimes. Still her child, I can manipulate my mother's words to accomodate my desires. Nonetheless, I can call him today and remind him that his getting close to catching up...and being old like me :) Then I remind him what good company he is in...to grow old with his "big" sister. Lucky boy.

Happy Birthday!