Funny Girl

We are celebrating my sister, Linda, on the occasion of her ??th birthday on Generation to Generation this week.  Her actual birthday was Monday, but we like celebrations and we like stringing them out as long as we can,  Right?

Linda has been referred to as many things in the family.  By her own proclamation, she is 'not the baby' of our family, although she is the last born of my parents.  Daddy used to say that they had '3 kids and a pet'.  Our entire family would look at her and say, in chorus, 'Wash you hands, Roger' to mimic a commercial that we heard on television when she was little.  Affectionately called 'Little Bit' by some and even 'That Little Boy' (her all-time favorite, as she was eternally mad at The Almighty because she wasn't a boy)...she burst into our family in the middle of the night and has kept things interesting ever since.

As I've thought about stories involving Linda from childhood, I've smiled a lot.  She was really a funny, funny child.  There are enough years between 'us' (we 3 older children) and 'her' that she is in many ways an only child.  But she was always in the thick of things, demanding to be heard and seen. 

She really did resent being a girl.  I can remember Mother having to be harsh with her to get her to wear a dress.  When our oldest brother got married, Linda declared that she wasn't going if she had to wear a dress.  Her hair was always cut very short, and if someone mistook her for a boy, she would say, "Did you hear?  They thought I was a BOY!"  I used to think that she was the only person I knew who could walk out the front door clean as a whistle, and go around the house and come into the back door and be so dirty that another bath was in order.  I now have a grandson with that same talent.  It must run in the family.

She loved horses and dogs and fishing and swimming.  She hated being still.  If it was Sunday, you could be sure that Linda was going to be in some level of trouble because sitting still during church two times in the same day seemed beyond her abilities.  She was a busy, busy girl.

She spent countless hours in our backyard, playing with Daddy's hunting dogs.  She taught them tricks and when she was angry, she would exclaim that she and Duke were going to "run away and join the circus. We know tricks and stuff!"  One trick that she never accomplished was teaching Duke to salute when she sang The National Anthem, but she sure gave it a good try.

I will never forget looking out of the window of my bedroom and seeing her put that dog's paw up over where she thought his heart was and telling him that he was putting his hand over his heart and he should leave it there.  Then she would strike a similar pose and sing "The Star Spangled Banner" as loud as she could and more than a little off-key.  I called Mother to come watch and we laughed until we were weak.  She did it over and over again.  And while Duke didn't keep the pose or do it on cue, it wasn't because of a lack of effort on Linda's part.  I might add that Duke patiently stood and occasionally tipped his head and howled while Linda sang.  As much as a dog can, that dog loved Linda.

Linda is still busy.  Only now her business involves being the mother of 3 lovely daughters of her own.  She is as involved in their lives and their activities as any mother I know and she loves it.  She has come a long way from that little girl in the back yard, but she will always be that funny child in my heart. 

Happy Birthday  Celebration, Linda.  I love you!

~Mollianne