Last month my sisters and I attended a baby shower for our niece. Liz is expecting her first child and as Great Aunts we were all looking forward to being there. My sister Eileen does all the shopping for such events (I shop only online) and she had seen something for the baby that came in a couple of different shapes. She was rattling off the choices and the word 'lamb' was no longer past her lips when I piped up "Yes, a lamb. Mom had my room decorated in lambs when I was born. I had a lamb on my crib and a rocking chair that played 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and a night light that was a lamb." My sisters thought this was hilarious. I being the oldest actually had a decor for my childhood bedroom. They, and my brother, all being younger got my hand me downs and they had no memory of my lambs. (Except of course for what is left of that ceramic night light that I can't bear to part with.) So the gift was bought and it was indeed a lamb.
That brings up up to yesterday, which just so happened to be my sixty-fourth birthday. I ran away from home in Philly to spend my weekend with my youngest sister and her wonderful husband in the peace and quiet of South Jersey. Said kid sister was making one of my favorite dinners, meatloaf, at my request. She also went out and bought a chocolate cherry bread pudding for dessert. Our brother, the soon to be grandfather, was also going to join us and my remaining sister had a dinner date with her hubby to celebrate his birthday.
I was happily reading when the front door opened and the sister I hadn't expected to see came in with a bag containing some Hagen-Dazs Blueberry Crumble and jelly beans. And then a box also appeared. A box with a funny shape and a head sticking out. It was a Lamb, a white fluffy lamb with pink ribbons at her ears. The softest lamb you can imagine. My sister is a mush ball like me. A joke gift with a soft edge and a sweet heart. A sweet heart, I was informed later, that my sister had kissed before it was put inside my lamb.
I am so blessed by my family. My mother always told us to love one another. We fought and had lots of disagreements when we were kids. And when I say we fought I mean the kind of fights that included fists and feet and slaps and screaming at the tops of our lungs. But then we grew up. We lost our father and we came kicking and screaming into adulthood. Twenty years ago we went through a protracted hospital stay and the death of our Mom. We learned to lean on each other and treasure what it meant to have siblings that you loved and that loved you , unreservedly, in return.
To get back to my lamb I think her name will be Pi. Yes like the number used to measure circles. I have checked and it is called an irrational and transcendental number. Sort of like my siblings and I. We might occasionally be irrational but we transcend that and love each other anyway.
The next time you hear "Mary Had A Little Lamb" you can think of me and Pi.
Pictured below is Pi and right under her you'll see me and my great sisters and brother.
I am indeed a very fortunate woman.
