Just a BLINK: III

...a sister is a little bit of childhood that can never

be lost...

This past month has been one of reflection and celebration!

All I can say is...I fully understand how being a bride in June, has made March so prolific!   

No, I was not married in June....but as a child we had so many family members, Aunts, Uncles,...Mother, brothers, sisters

cousins, each born in March.

 It was impossible

to have or attend all of the birthdays individually...

so we celebrated one HUGE party, and invited everyone to attend.

Each year between Grandma's house and ours we took turns hosting.  It was a St Patty's Day celebration, without the green beer!

 

...in the end...love is the brightest light of all...

 *****

I am drawn to a memory over 30 years ago.

We were a family of boys.

 I knew there was a little girl in heaven just biding her time

to make an entrance here on earth.

And that is what she did!

A STARR IS BORN!

Congratulations to LeGrand & Jamie Ellison

Read the marque just as you drove into town.

Green River, Wyoming, Taco Bell

was announcing to the world our JOY!

But we could not have our youngest child be our only girl...

18 months later, Britt made her appearance.

~WE WERE COMPLETE~

There is magic in the air, when little girls are around.

Something in pink, will soften out even the harshest mountain man...

blonde curls, and green eyes...both of them.

I was in heaven.

Starr, loved to have someone read to her, and when no one was

available, she entertained herself...sometimes for hours,

on her little chair, with a stack of books.

When Britt, was about 6 months old, I passed by their

bedroom door, and to my delight Starr had maneuvered

her little stool, to the crib railings, and was hurling

all of the books she could manage

into her sisters bed.  She was bound and determined 

to SHARE THIS GOODNESS!!!

I stood and watched, and the thought came to me,

that they would grow to be the best of friends.

I can hardly wrap my head around the fact that it has been

30 years, that our baby girl, Britt was born.

And a whole lot of living...

As they growing up, we were so fortunate to live in an area

where there were great friends...the Vellingas, the Bacca's...the 

Spencers...and many, many more.

These little girls made it happen,

playing house, baking mud pies, helping in the garden..."High Spot",

dress-up's  and secretaries!!!

I about died the year that Britt, asked for a "real"typewriter, at Christmas.  I think she may have been seven.

Starr, has always been the great organizer.

We had a fun little tradition, when the holidays rolled around,

preparing their room, changing out the checkerd quilts

for the silk and lace spreads.  Dressing all of the dolls in their finest outfits.  Scrubbing toys, and donating to a favorite

charity.

In the middle of it, Starr was taking charge.

If you ask them to tell you about the time they were delivering papers and I accidently drug them off the curb,

and into the gutter, with the door of the car...you may die, laughing...but it was horrible at the time it happened.

The incident when their friends dog, got to excited as the kids were playing in the snow, and attacked Britt..taking off her

nose and a big chunk of her lip, leaving puncture wounds all over her sweet little face.  That is when I witnessed first hand the resilience of youth...the trust, and belief in miracles.

With the skilled hands of a plastic surgeon, and resting over the weekend, she was back in school, defying anyone to tease her.

Second grade hero...but it was her sister Starr, who was

 always silently watching out for her.

Starr, who wants nothing more than to match her brothers accomplishments in the out of doors, hunting BIG game.  She was inducted to that feat of accomplishment with her Daddy, one season, given the glorified" task of carrying home

"the cookies" of the elk which had been shot and cleaned.

Oh MY GOODNESS!!!

*****

The stories of life.

Impossible to cram 30+ years of living into a couple of paragraphs.

I love both of these women.

They have been the delight of my life...and sorrow, and JOY...and the cause of a lot of sleepless nights.

They are walking, talking courage...giggles, beauty...screeching (when angry or frustrated), silent tears falling, prayers never ending...they are the resolute support for each other 

that a parent can always hope for, pray for, and be so utterly grateful for.

They have the music of life just bursting from the seams. 

Compassion, is not a relationship between the Healer and the Wounded...It is a relationship

between equals.

They have been there for each other in everything life has thrown at them.

They are sisters.