“…to embarrass here when she’s 16”

As lil sis was growing up, when she did something particularly memorable, either in a cute way or in an otherwise memorable fashion, we’d say: “We’re going to tell this story when she’s 16 to embarrass her!” We had fun imagining lording it over her in that distant future…

But now it’s come (and gone!) and I almost haven’t the heart to recount any of those. But maybe a few of the more harmless ones can’t hurt…

I’m tall. The kind of tall that makes people say, “Wow, how tall are you” but not freakishly tall like pro basketball players. All through early childhood, she’d say, “When I grow up, I want to be as tall as Andy”. I’d give her anything if I could, but I can’t give her that.

When she was just a baby, I remember holding her. Being the youngest child growing up, I had never held a baby before. She was more sturdy than I though babies would be. She liked to grab my glasses (getting them full of baby fingerprints), and she’d giggle if you blew a zerbit on her tummy.

C has a sarcastic way of yelling “Crisis!” when someone is making a fuss over nothing. R.A. learned this but didn’t understand sarcasm, so one time when she decided to make a fuss over nothing (she wanted out of her high chair) she not only cried, but also yelled “Crisis!” in all seriousness.

The mess one chocolate cookie can make.

She’d come up to Slate Creek and we’d explore fun places like the old mine…

Sometimes we’d have a sleepover in the loft at the lodge and we’d stay up telling cooperative Goldbug Nelson ghost stories. Mr. Nelson was a previous owner of Slate Creek, and he made his living (such as it was) by mining for gold. Rumor has it that there is still hidden away somewhere a coffee can full of gold…