Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Dear Audrey,
Because I am your older brother, my memories go back for more than seventy-eight years. I can remember Dad and Mother promising that I was getting a baby brother and that I would not have to play just girl games with our sisters Beryl and Lois forever.
I can well remember that beautiful day in July, with Dad, working in the garden so that he could be near the house where all the action was taking place. I heard your first cry as you welcomed yourself into our world and no, you were not a brother.
My disappointment was most fleeting and I still have the picture in my mind of a beautiful baby with your pink cheeks and your gummy smile.
I became Mother’s assistant care-giver number one as I rocked the baby-carriage until you slept and tried to be prepared for the action that you expected from life, when you wakened. You were not a brother but you were my baby sister and you needed me.
Your life has been one of excitement, of exploration, of action, anchored by love and faith. It is most fitting that you met your one true love on the ski slopes. You and Axel have left a beautiful family that gives us comfort and makes us proud.
Sleep well, baby-sister.
Rodney
