a story for the twins

i almost don't remember the day you were born, five is too young for planting long term memories maybe. but i do remember being at the hospital, crawling under the waiting room chairs and being asked if i was excited to be a big sister. i was not excited. i already had one little brother and although we got along fine sometimes, most of the time he pulled my hair and tried to pee on me in the tub. i had plenty of dolls and couldn't see why i needed more family. kids are pretty dumb that way. when you guys came out i was so awed by how small you were. like two little kidney beans all wrapped up in blankets. and then you got fun. now there were FOUR of us - enough for any game we wanted to play. we had the best tag team wrestling matches in the neighborhood. as we got older, i know how terrible things were, and i see now that the purpose of having family was not to even out the teams but so that when things get really bad there are more hands to hold, more shoulders to cry on and more people to pull you through with love. i will always be thankful for your birth, and i will always be glad that i was there, even though i did leave my favorite doll under one of those waiting room chairs in my excitement to get you home.