Siblings
An Embarrassment of Riches
I was just reminded that today is National Siblings Day. I never remember the date, but facebook always pops up the memories, which reminds me. With so many siblings, I had the opportunity to develop a lot of different sibling relationships from an early age.
Five of them (Jim, Chris, Ken, Juli and Brian) are older than me, all six of us having come in relatively rapid succession over a 7 ½ year period. One (Mary) is younger, having waited another 5 ½ years after I was born to come along. This was very considerate of her, allowing me to enjoy being the youngest for a nice extended period before she took over that role for the next 55 years and counting! But then, she’s always been very considerate — a great sibling!
A lot of relationships, for sure! The oldest, Jim, was always known for being really smart. He managed to complete his high school requirements in three years instead of the standard four, and was off to Notre Dame on a full scholarship by age 16.
I can still remember a conversation I had with Jim in 1962, when I would have been 7, about Viet Nam. He was certain that we were going to get more involved there, and that it would be…