And the First Shall be Last

Happy Birthday, Faline.

It is not on purpose that I started this year-long round of birthday greetings with Monte, the first-born son, and am ending it with you, the first of us to be born. It just happened that way. On the other hand, since there is a purpose under heaven for everything, I'm sure that this birthday greeting order is not merely a coincidence, but timely.

I have quite a lot to thank you for, actually. I never told you, did I (?) that I was always glad that you came along first, grateful to you for doing the work of breaking Mom and Dad into parenthood, believing that you created a sort of buffer zone between our mother and me. If it were not for you being my just older sister, always requiring my company, I would never have taken the opportunity to learn by my own experiences--that you led or dragged me into--to learn good from evil. I would never, of my own volition, have wandered through that bull pasture in Logan, gone wading in the silage at the farm in Merrill, touched tongues with you through that filthy screen door in the farmhouse, run away to play without telling Mom, etc., etc. (....and the list goes on). Your very constant presence made me grow from weak to strong, made me have to think for myself, and eventually fend for and stand up for myself: accomplishments I would never have aspired to without your prodding.

I remember when your vocal abilities were discovered, when we first moved to Trumansburg. I remember how proud I was to see you standing in front the curtain in the Jr. High auditorium, wearing that long slinky, shiny dress, swinging that brightly feathered shawl, singing the entree act for the high school's melodrama, sounding just like a grown-up soprano: "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage". Who would have thought that with those two songs you would be foretelling my future?

You were always there for me, even after we both left home, sometimes when I wanted you, and sometimes when I didn't. You stood ever ready to advise me about nursing my firstborn baby. And you were there to tell me everything I needed to know, via that big box of books, about having babies at home when I became pregnant with Gary, and the only doctor I will ever trust had quit the business of obstetrics. And I am thankful for the times you helped me through crises with Shanna, helping me find words to say what needed to be said to avert a catastrophe, that I would not have otherwise thought of saying.

You facilitated my prodigiously early entrance into the Advanced School of Hard Knocks, before I was capable of the thought required for making an application. Within its hallowed halls I met my First Love, Redeemer, Friend, Savior, God and King who is everything to me. With Him I have found faith I did not think possible, strength I did not know I had, and depths of understanding I did not know existed. With Him I am no longer afraid of my own shadow, or of anybody else's, for that matter. By Him I have learned wisdom that I would not trade for all the gold in China, or all the friends in the world. To you, ultimately, goes the credit for all of this. I am a better person today for having been your just younger sister. My sincere thanks go to you. I hope that this, your day, is as blessed as you have wished for every one of my days to be.