We All Get Older... and Older!

I've been thinking about this lately because it's that time of year when my family has always had many birthdays, most of them precisely one week apart. We had cousins that we called Aunts because they were my father's first cousins and he was raised with them. One of them was born on June 2, another on June 9th, then my brother Gary on June 16th, my sister Kim on June 23rd (and it's a strange coincidence but my friend Kim also was born on June 23rd!), followed by my cousin (the son of my second cousin whom I called Aunt!) on June 30th. We managed to marry in some people born in June as well, so my ex-Mother-in-Law, Hilda, was on June 21st. My aunts and ex-M-i-L are gone now, sadly, so we no longer have their birthdays to celebrate, but they are days to remember them.

Mostly this means that my sister has the cake all to herself!

This photo was taken by my Mother when we were on vacation at Niagara Falls. That's my dad, with Gary in front of him, me leaning against him sitting next to my older brother, who is holding my sister, the youngest. Obviously, someone is not happy about standing still! Or maybe it's that pre-Michael Jackson fashion statement he's objecting to! I think we were two, three, five, and fourteen in this one.

Tonight, I was looking at family photos and talking to my mom on the phone, describing the photos and discussing them with her. I came across some pictures that I thought I would share in honor of my brother's birthday tomorrow. So happy birthday, Gary! Enjoy this blast from the past and don't worry about where all that hair went! With love from your sister...

Believe it or not, I think this is the next photo to show all of us together in one photo. Daddy had died a couple of years before this, which was taken at my older brother's second wedding reception. Gary and Kimmy were in the wedding but I was considered too fat. It says a lot about who he married, I think. Wowsers if she thought I was fat then, whatever would she think now? But then, who would care what she - or anyone who makes decisions along those lines - thinks? This is probably my favorite photo of the four of us. It was taken by my ex, Ron, also sadly no longer with us.

Here's a great photo of my brother Gary with my older brother's daughter, Erin, who was 8 at the time. This was taken the Christmas before the wedding.

Here are my brothers together last year in my older brother's garden in Charleston, SC. Where do you think all that hair went? And no, my older brother has never played Mr. Clean. Ever!

If I find a decent photo of my sister and myself, I'll publish that for her birthday next week. If it isn't the right one, she just might sue me! ;-)) Happy birthday, Gary. Love, Marilyn