Do you remember seeing a birthday card with a hippopotamus and a bird on it? I saw it once and if I’d seen it last week, I’d have picked it up for Reid to send to Karin because those two have seen quite a few hippopotamuses together and Reid would laugh at the “Hippo Birdie to you” message on the inside of the card. But then, I’m a digital girl and I didn’t get a card. Instead I’m writing this note about her.
1. Karin can blow big bubbles with her gum. Given all of the other times I’ve written about her bubbles, I had to start there.
2. Karin and I have spent lots of time travelling together and have had lots of time to talk. She has never told me that she resented me displacing her from her postion as a “little girl” in the sense that people referred to her and Lisa as the “little girls”. So that is a good thing, unless she is secretly harbouring resentment.
3. When I was a little girl and microwaves were new in homes (and the earth was still cooling), Karin made me a sort of “grilled” cheese sandwich in her boyfriend’s mother’s microwave. It was amazing then. Just thinking of it makes me shudder now – warm white bread and processed cheese.
4. Karin was the one who took me to the hair dresser to get my first perm. Everyone needed an afro back then. It might not have been an actual afro but I’ve never claimed to have a good memory.
5. Karin was also the one who badgered, I mean, inspired me to dye my hair once the grey hairs were getting out of control. It’s important to have someone looking out for your image.
6. When I was a young maid of 10, Karin invited me to be in her wedding and caused me to wear a beautiful yellow dress. The little bridesmaid pendant that she gave to me was equally lovely.
7. Karin invited me to spend a couple of summers with her when she was living in Halifax. Well, that is how I remember it. Mom and Dad may have asked her to toake me off of their hands. I like to think that she wanted me.
8. Karin took me out driving when I was preparing for my driver’s licence test. I don’t remember her ever yelling at me but I bet I deserved it. Unfortunately for me, I passed the test without having mastered parallel parking and this, despite Karin’s best efforts and I still have difficulty parallel parking today. Karin can put the largest vehicle with the most blind spots into a parking spot that is barely bigger than the vehicle and I admire her for this skill.
9. Karin is looking after Reid’s girly-girl side – she makes sure that Reid gets her fingernails and toenails painted every once in a while and that Reid always has good shoes. Other people looked at Reid’s face when she was a newborn to decide who she looked like. Karin looked at Reid’s finger nailbeds (they’re good and resemble Karin’s) and toenails (they’re okay and not as bad as mine and Karin’s).
10. Karin is a pie-maker extraordinaire. AND she has shared her secret recipe with me. She regularly makes sure that there is a cherry pie for Ken. She invites Reid to help her roll out the dough and doesn’t flinch at the mess.
11. Karin has talked to Reid on the telephone for years, even though Reid hasn’t always spoke to her. When Reid was very small, Karin started every conversation with an excited (and loud) “Reid Elizabeth”, both in person and on the phone. Reid would grin when she heard it, whether or not she responded verbally.
12. Karin has accompanied me on a variety of business trips and has taken care of Reid in a range of North American cities. She shows Reid a good time, even when they spend the whole day in the hotel room because that is what Reid wants. I never feel that I need to rush back from a conference session lest she judge me.
13. Karin stopped at our house on her way back from the East Coast just after Reid was born to help me get Reid started nursing and to generally just help. I don’t think that it was necessarily the most restful Civic Holiday weekend for her but it was hugely important for Reid, Ken and me.
Happy birthday, sister.
