Happy Birthday Margsie

I know it seems like I just posted a blog wishing my sister Happy Birthday and I did – my sister Janet. Exactly a week later is my middle sister Margaret’s birthday.

Margaret is five years and one week older than Janet. For so long Margaret was the youngest and it was a role she was made for. She was great at being the center of attention. She is funny and is a great singer. It had to be a real mind blowing event for her to suddenly be displaced as the baby when Janet came into the world.

Janet, it turns out, probably knew that being the baby was Margaret’s place and quickly became very self-sufficient and grown up. When we all became adults, people who just met us guessed that Margaret was the baby, perhaps because she looks younger than we do.

Margaret is the neatest person I ever met. When I was a kid my room was usually a disaster, with my closet being an even greater mess, if that was possible. Then there was Margaret. Things were in their right places, perfectly displayed and color-coded. No wonder she grew up to be a decorator with the best eye for color and a cleaver way to give clients a clean look.

I was about content and she was about look. We could not have been more opposite. I loved to cook and Margaret was happy eating the same thing, frozen broccoli with processed American cheese, every night. Janet was the bridge, wanting everyone to just get along. Somehow we all came from the same parents.

Well, today is Margaret’s special day. It never was an easy day for a birthday since it was just after Janet’s and right at the start of school. I hope that it is the best day. Margaret, now that you are on the back half of a century, I wish that you still enjoy bringing beauty into people’s lives, laughing, and singing out loud. You are a darling who will always be my younger sister.