For 5 Months Every Year, She's 1 Year Younger Than Me By Age - KdotCdot Day!

It's Karyn Dee Crandall's Birthday!

KC, the Pain, kdotcdot, lil' sis, now Casey Barnwell.

And I screwed up the gift - not like orange sweater Christmas style, but in the too big category. I was good, too - went online a while ago and timed the delivery for the 23rd. It came to her knees.

whomp whom whomp.

Deflated like Sean-man's faulty dinosaur Halloween costume.

So, I decided to resurrect one of my favorite memories from a few summer's ago when, on the rare - very rare - okay, miraculous - occasion I actually took time off. I broke my finger tossing a football around with Chitunga at her house. Yes, that's sweat. Drenched. I was in pain and even with my humor in full check, my body did it's own thing and drowned me in nerves. Without missing a beat, though, Casey (KC, Karyn) drove me to emergency care and guided Chitunga, who wanted to be with me, and Nikki, who is the medical "expert" in the family, while we went to get the dangling finger bones reset. Um, Chitunga and Nikki stayed in the lobby because they gave out free Slushees.

There was a moment when the nurse said, "I can't get it in place. This is worse than a shoulder dislocation," and she sat me in a wheeled chair and started swinging me around like I was a lasso. It hurt so bad and it was not fun, and Casey (Kc, Karyn) said, "Okay, I think I'm going to pass out." And then we just started laughing like we were at a funeral and our Aunt Rena's stomach was growling.

I thought of that last night as she texted what her boys will be for Halloween and the fiasco with EBay on the dinosaur costume.

Time. Aging. Adulting. Memories. Parenting. Stress. Keeping world order. Worry. Loving, Caring. Fretting. Kvetching. Needing sleep. Making appointments. No time to catch a breath.

My older sister is in a different place. She's almost empty nesting (well, not really), but she's slowly getting a life schedule that belongs to her and Mike alone. It's a transition.

My baby sister is in full-force MOMMY mode driving the minivan to this and to that only to get this and to get that before needing to be here and then there.

I'm just amazed at the stories of 3 Amalfi Drive kids and where we once were...where we are now...what we know we might be one day.

This life thing is wonky, but in perspective of those who have been with you for the longest, it begins to have more meaning. It's a deeper meaning.

As the sands in the hour glass...This Is Us.  And siblings are meant to deliver the Zing. That's what Big Brothers do.

So our the days of our life.

Happy Birthday, Lil' Sis. I'll get a gift right one of these days!