My sister Teresa's birthday is today. She turns 50. When I was in college, Teresa came to stay with me in the dorm while our grandpa was in the hospital. She was married and had two kids by this time. One of my roommates thought she was still in high school. Unfortunately, she's never forgotten that incident and to this day, she tells people she's younger than I am. And sometimes people still believe her. This is my chance to set the record straight. She's older, people. By almost 10 years!
The picture below was taken on her birthday at our family reunion in Branson in 2004. She has a thing for old hats, Birkenstocks (she has the largest collection of them I've ever seen) and Bud Light, so this picture really captures the essence of her.
In the next picture she's offering a Bud Light to Codi, a one-year-old, at the same reunion. Codi got her back this past weekend (he's now six) when we were at a family party and he asked her if she was somebody's grandma! She really is somebody's grandma now (Caden's) but it was still funny. Guess you had to be there.
She has been saying for some time that when she turns 50 she's going to wear a tiara every day. Hey, she's officially a member of the Red Hat Society now, so I guess anything is possible!
Happy birthday, Teresa. I can't wait to see you sitting at a slot machine gambling, drinking a Bud Light and wearing your tiara next week in Vegas!
Many years ago, when my friend Lucy and her family were preparing for a visit to my house from England, they were talking about how long it was before they'd board the airplane and (many, many hours later) arrive in Wichita, America. They refer to me as Chris in America, so that's appropriate. Well, the kids were young. Still toddlers, in fact. So they decided the easiest way for the kids to understand was to count the number of overnight "sleeps" they'd have before getting underway. I have been using that system for myself ever since.
With that in mind, I now tell you that there are only four more sleeps until I leave for Las Vegas. Almost the whole family (only three won't be there) is attending the Las Vegas wedding of my brother Mark and his long-time significant other, Terri. I was excited already on Monday because that's when my parents left (with two of my nieces in tow) on their two-week trip for the wedding. They're swinging out to California for a couple of days before Vegas, then after it's the Grand Canyon, among other things, on the way home. My sister, Jenny, and her family are also driving and they're leaving Friday. There are about 20 of us on the flight to Vegas on Sunday. Odds of sitting beside somebody I know on that flight are pretty good.
So, this will be the ultimate Family Vacation. Yes, I capitalized those words on purpose. Stay tuned for updates and pictures. For now, I think I'll turn in for one of those sleeps.
In the next picture she's offering a Bud Light to Codi, a one-year-old, at the same reunion. Codi got her back this past weekend (he's now six) when we were at a family party and he asked her if she was somebody's grandma! She really is somebody's grandma now (Caden's) but it was still funny. Guess you had to be there.
She has been saying for some time that when she turns 50 she's going to wear a tiara every day. Hey, she's officially a member of the Red Hat Society now, so I guess anything is possible!
