Vera (not Bradley)

  She's little. She's cute. She's my new niece! I know that I mentioned in passing a couple months ago that my sister had a baby, but I haven't had a chance to extol her many sweet qualities. So here is an unflattering picture I took with her last week:   Truth be told little…

Conscious? Perhaps…

I never know if I'm awake or sleeping lately, but for all my exhaustion I surely can't be sleeping, so I guess that's not the case. I've been gone from here a long time and I miss it as much as the friends I haven't spoken to in years. I wonder why I don't come…

Merry Christmas

We live in a world where things come first and people come second. Every once in a while we get things right and put back in order, and do things the right way. I didn't get to see the majority of my family for Christmas this year, which is fairly common for us, but was…

Baby No More

There are nine of us children in my family. Seven boys, two girls, and a set of twins in that mix. As the second oldest, I was pretty much used to there always being a baby in the family. Or at least a toddler. By the time the toddlers were just "little kids" there was…

November 6th

November 6th has been one of the very best days I have had in a long time. We all have days when things are going well and we get through the day without incident. Frequently, little things will happen that we are appreciative of or just thoroughly enjoy. But it is rather rare, I think,…

How to Be an Adult Sibling

People have a tendency to feel that their struggles are very different from everyone who came before them. Perhaps that's just part of the human fascination with being unique and unrepeatable and all that, but it can get ridiculous fast. There's truth to the idea - I mean, no two lives are identical - but…

Sister Love

Today two of my sisters are 15 years old. Not only can I remember when they were born, but I have so many memories of playing with them and teaching them and taking care of them. It is hard to believe that it has been fifteen years since we welcomed these twins into our family.…

Video

Sometimes videos are the best way of capturing truly fantastic experiences. Sometimes they're the best way of experiencing something you'll never get to see in person. Either way, it's better to have them than not to have them. Here are a couple of clips from times gone by which I absolutely love and am very…