The wit and wisdom of my sister Fran

Not only am I the middle of the middle in my family, I'm also the middle of the six girls, a distinction I share with my twin Jean. But I digress. As the middle girls, Jean and I have a sister who is ten years older and one who is ten years young. Nice symmetry.

Fran, the senior sister, has many pithy little sayings that have helped me out of more than one spot.

• Relationships: "You are going to the bank for a quart of milk". Translation: you are asking for something your beloved simply doesn't have to give.
• On communion: "God wants his children to come to the table. Surely you don't think he picks out some of his children and tells them to go away?"
• Troubled times: "God never closes one door without opening another". This is my least favorite, while I agree that this might possibly be true, I caution her to watch out for all the shit in the hall.
  

Beauty in the Ozarks

The sun is out, the weather pleasant and not too muggy. One should just be aching to go outside and get things done. I have escaped that compulsion and wonder when it might be a good time for a nap. Pathways from reality relies heavily upon napping. Perhaps a short snooze will give me the opportunity to ideate. Remember when that wasn't a word?

Late to the party

I am number nine of 13 children. I have a twin sister who was born 13 hours before me so I guess that was the first party I was late to attend. I prefer to think she was premie and I went full term. Our mother thought it might have been fun to call us Ada and Nina. She then considered Andrea and Annette. I think that was a bullet dodged as I feel certain I would have been Annette. As it happened we were named Jean and Joan. Ding and Dong. I always thought her name, Jean Marie (Ding) was beautiful and ethereal, kind of a sky blue. On the other hand, Joan Margaret (Dong) was so solid, earthy, brown. It's not a bad name as an adult.

The other party I've missed is blogging. I've always meant to start a blog, but can't seem to decide what I might want to say. Will it be a cry of agony because you can't get to be 57 without suffering disappointment, rejection and a few tragedies, or will it be an opportunity to roll-out my Just for Women "Pathways From Reality" program. I've been thinking about it for several years now. I have a sister who always says she lives in the "real world"--like that's a good thing. Most of us do live in the real world and find reality to be highly over-rated. I'm not talking about a permanent retreat to fantasy land, families take such a dim view of psychosis, but let's face it, it would be a nice vacation spot.

I'll have to put more thought into this. I think I'll take a little side trip away from reality and see what we see. I'll keep you posted