Today marks my sister Emily's 50th birthday, and would have been the 46th birthday of my cousin Terry. This is a photo of both of them when Terry and his family visited my sister Emily and her family in Germany several years ago. Terry, sadly, waged and lost a two year battle against brain cancer and died last year on June 2nd. He was the youngest son of my mom's youngest brother Ed. He blogged his experiences and wrote his own obituary, which can be read here:
Thumping My Melon. So Terry, Happy Birthday wherever you are and know that you are still loved and missed terribly by the entire Harper clan ♥. As for my sister Emily, well, she was born a week after my third birthday, so I have always regarded her as my 3rd birthday present, delivered a week late. She and I are the two middle children between our eldest sister and our younger brother. She's always been something of the family clown and possesses a very whimsical sense of humor, which is why she and cousin Terry got along so well. He was a very funny man in his own right and made people laugh wherever he went. My sister has always made me laugh because I consider myself the more serious and somber member of the family, the perfect "straight man" to my sister's natural comedienne. Every Christmas, she e-mails us a hilarious photoshopped Christmas card that I look forward to each year. Some of them reflect our family's sort of Irish gallows humor and many poke fun at pop culture icons, since she's something of a pop culture maven. (Well, these days, it's not too hard to become, especially if, like me, you are addicted to magazines like "People" and "Us Weekly", which are basically brain candy!)
So to my sister Emily, "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!", German for "Happy Birthday, since she lives in Germany, and to our late cousin Terry, as you were fond of saying to celebrate birthdays, "Here's mud in your eye!" I raise a glass to both of you on your mutual birthday. To Emily, have a great time in Paris celebrating your birthday a la "April in Paris". To Terry, well, wherever you are, I hope that there is plenty of good Maker's Mark for you to raise a glass to yourself today to celebrate your 46th birthday. I haven't got any Makers Mark on hand, but I do have a bottle of some pretty good single malt scotch, and later on this evening, I will raise a toast to you, cousin, and wish you a happy birthday, and to you, Emily, I will also toast your entreé into the 50s with Polly and me. Have a great time in Paris, and I will see you on Monday night in Cleveland!
Today marks my sister Emily's 50th birthday, and would have been the 46th birthday of my cousin Terry. This is a photo of both of them when Terry and his family visited my sister Emily and her family in Germany several years ago. Terry, sadly, waged and lost a two year battle against brain cancer and died last year on June 2nd. He was the youngest son of my mom's youngest brother Ed. He blogged his experiences and wrote his own obituary, which can be read here: Thumping My Melon. So Terry, Happy Birthday wherever you are and know that you are still loved and missed terribly by the entire Harper clan ♥. As for my sister Emily, well, she was born a week after my third birthday, so I have always regarded her as my 3rd birthday present, delivered a week late. She and I are the two middle children between our eldest sister and our younger brother. She's always been something of the family clown and possesses a very whimsical sense of humor, which is why she and cousin Terry got along so well. He was a very funny man in his own right and made people laugh wherever he went. My sister has always made me laugh because I consider myself the more serious and somber member of the family, the perfect "straight man" to my sister's natural comedienne. Every Christmas, she e-mails us a hilarious photoshopped Christmas card that I look forward to each year. Some of them reflect our family's sort of Irish gallows humor and many poke fun at pop culture icons, since she's something of a pop culture maven. (Well, these days, it's not too hard to become, especially if, like me, you are addicted to magazines like "People" and "Us Weekly", which are basically brain candy!)
So to my sister Emily, "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!", German for "Happy Birthday, since she lives in Germany, and to our late cousin Terry, as you were fond of saying to celebrate birthdays, "Here's mud in your eye!" I raise a glass to both of you on your mutual birthday. To Emily, have a great time in Paris celebrating your birthday a la "April in Paris". To Terry, well, wherever you are, I hope that there is plenty of good Maker's Mark for you to raise a glass to yourself today to celebrate your 46th birthday. I haven't got any Makers Mark on hand, but I do have a bottle of some pretty good single malt scotch, and later on this evening, I will raise a toast to you, cousin, and wish you a happy birthday, and to you, Emily, I will also toast your entreé into the 50s with Polly and me. Have a great time in Paris, and I will see you on Monday night in Cleveland!
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