Once Upon A Time ...
There was a little girl.
She was very smart.
She was a girl that made her parents very proud and always wanted to do whatever she could to please them.
She knew what she wanted to be when she grew up, from the time she was six or seven years old.
She shared a bedroom with her little sister and she always got the bottom bunk and stuck her younger sister on the top bunk.
She often would take her little sister, sit her in a chair in front of the map on the wall in their bedroom, make her little sister be the student, while she stood in front of the map and pointed, with her pointer stick, to all the countries on the map.
Her little sister liked her older sister well enough, except when they fought and the girl would ball up her fist, pull her arm back and haul off and hit her little sister in the arm or on the leg - really hard - like a big bully.
Her little sister was as cute as could be.
Her little sister seldom did anything wrong, but always got the blame because the parents of these two girls liked the older sister more.
(Okay ... maybe those last two lines aren't true).
The girl ... grew up to be a good woman.
She went to college and got her degree in Education and went onto become a fabulous Elementary School Teacher - loved by all of her students and their parents and her fellow teachers.
She has been teaching children for nearly 25 years.
She also was fortunate to have two wonderful boy children of her own.
This girl's little sister - always loved the girl very much.
She still loves her very much.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHERYL ... I couldn't ask for a better sister in all the world.
I am proud of you, I love you and I want to thank you for always being there for me in my life. You make me laugh and you make me think and you always have something to say (well ... that can be a good thing). I have always been in awe of your flamboyant personality and your ability to light up most any room with your sheer presence. I have watched you for many years and I have learned many a lesson by simply sitting in front of you and allowing you to point out the ways of the world to me.
I looked up to you all those many years ago in that bedroom, in our house in Chicago, in front of that map. I still sometimes feel like I have to strain my neck ... in order to see you.
I am lucky ... to be your little sister.
THE END
Happy Birthday To My Sister Cheryl!
We all love you very much,
Kellan, Billy, Courtney, Chloe, Billy, Alexis, Rob, Vonda and Kids, Danny and kids, Mom, Casey and Cody, Dad and Elaine - all of us!