We used to play outside for hours, never seeing a car pass by. Our dogs and fields keeping us safe from the outside world. We’d ride bikes up and down the road for miles, avoiding the only neighbor kid if we could.

Holidays were great, not just for being out of school, but because we got to go to Grandma’s. Getting there was half the fun. Remember the one time we took the back seat out of the van and played Barbies on the floor the whole way?

Today I remembered the one time we rode in Dad’s semi truck, hiding on the bed of the sleeper cabin, trying to play Guess Who, but the people kept falling down with every bump. We’d yell and gripe at him and stand them up and try again, but they’d fall and he’d laugh at us.

Happy Birthday, Sis. Another year older, and I pray, wiser. After a shared youth, it seems we have grown apart in adulthood. I think you want it that way. This must be why our aunts moved so far from each other.

It makes time together more special.