Today is my sister's birthday. In the interest of anonymity I won't say how many moons she's seen, but if we were in Sweden we would say that she is "forty tre." Ironically, we'd say the same thing if we lived near Maine, or Nova Scotia.
I thought for a long time about what to get my sister to celebrate this occasion. We haven't been much for exchanging gifts for a long time now, but, nevertheless, birthdays should not pass unnoticed. I heard through the "grapevine" that the highpoint of her day would be a trip to Wendy's for a new burger; I'm confident any gift I give will pole-vault over that gesture. So, I thought really hard and came up with something.
Let the unwrapping begin! When I was a little boy, my sister tried to "off" me. I can't blame her. Now that I have children, especially little boys AND little girls, I can understand the dinamics a lot better. Boys can be pests extraordanaire and then some. Following her around, teasing, inpromptu wrestling, lincoln logs hoarded, etc.; I'm sure it was more than she could take.
Anyway, fate interveined one fine day and found me ascending a flight of basement stairs with her descending the same. She was either finishing some knitting, or carrying the needles to their resting place for my mother (although I have to admit I never remember seeing anyone in my immediate family knit). As the gap between us narrowed I might have said something (probably did) like "up your's," but we'll never know...charges were never filed, thus no court transcript exists of those terrible moments. I don't even remember the specific instance of being skewered only the sensation of those needles sticking to the roof of my mouth and my sister calling for my mom. Like I said, the authorities were never involved, we kept it in "the family."
I know my sister is a good person. Every bit of fruit that has come from her life before and after the incident points to that fact. So, in my heart of hearts, I'm sure it was an accident. Wrong place at the wrong time you could say. But, true to my form as the pesky little brother I have carried the grudge. From time to time when it has served my interest I've reached into my bag of tricks and pulled out that little gem. Well, its too late for last minute shopping, and I don't like belated gifts, so here's my present sis, "I Forgive You!"
Ahhh!, that feels gooooood. Happy Birthday Sis! I'm sorry I've been a pest. You've been an awesome sister! Love, J
1 comment:
1. Knowing now that your memory is that I was trying to stab you back then (I remember it as a totally innocent accident) it makes me think you might be looking at my knitting blogs and pictures through a completely different viewpoint.
b. I don't know of anyone in our family who knit, either.
3. It was a fish sandwich at Wendy's and it was delightful.
4. I accept your forgiving me but I now feel guilty that I wasn't feeling guilty about the innocent before.
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