Happy 61st Birthday, Cindy!

Today, November 18th is my sister, Cindy’s 61st Birthday! I can not believe that she is now sixty-one-years old, and I just turned fifty-six! In honor of her birthday, I’ve got a story to tell about us—when we were kids.

When I was about eight years old, Cindy made me mad about something, and I demanded that we divide our bedroom in half—and she let me!

I remember getting my Dad’s black electrical tape, and running tape across the double bed we shared and then onto the floor—all of the way to our closet! I was real proud of my handiwork, and Cindy even let me pick which side of the room I wanted.

I picked the side farthest from the doorway, because it was the side, which I also slept on the bed. When Cindy and I went into the hallway, that’s when I realized —I had made a bad choice.

My side of the bedroom was at least five feet away, and there was no way, that I could jump over Cindy’s side, because I was too short, I mean—height-challenged!

(I was so short at that time, my mom told me years later, after I had peaked at five-foot-two, that one of my aunt’s had once expressed concerns to my mom—‘that I might be a dwarf.’

I proved that aunt stupid—when they had the tryouts to be a munchkin in the ‘Wizard of Oz’ at Fort Worth’s theatre in-the-round—‘Casa Manana!’ I tried out for it, but didn’t get the part, because I was too tall!)

Cindy watched me try over and over again, to leap over her side of the room, to mine, but I failed miserably. When I finally realized that I couldn’t make the jump to my side of the room, and knowing that I would have to depend on my older brother, Ronnie, to carry me in or out of the bedroom— worried me. And, because of my bad choice—I would also never be able to get to my clothes in the drawers, because our dresser was on Cindy’s side, too. So, I cried.

Cindy felt sorry for me, so she offered a compromise—that I couldn’t refuse! She suggested that we only divide the bed, and let the floor be a free zone.

I accepted her offer, and quickly removed all of the tape from the carpet and the bedspread.

That night when we went to bed, my tall sister teased me, by sliding her foot over onto my side of the bed, and then announce it. I would scoot down to the foot of the bed, and kick her in the legs—until she was off of my property! I fought for my rights several times that night, before we finally fell to sleep—from exhaustion. The following day—we agreed to end our feud!

Looking back, Cindy and I have shared some of the best times, and the worse. And, I just want to say, thank you, Cindy, for being the greatest sister anyone could ask for! Happy 61st Birthday!

Love Always,
Sister Nancy