Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time there was a little girl. She had long blonde tresses, big dimples, a winning smile and flashing blue eyes. She was brave and strong and could do no wrong. She was beautiful and she my hero! Melinda was born 2 years before me. She was my older sister and I idolized her.

From a young age I could go to her with my problems. Most of the time she knew what was bothering me before I did. She always had good advice. She was my rock. She was so smart and made me laugh. More than anything I wanted to please her.

When I was but a few weeks old, Melinda removed the ice water from the refrigerator and carried it into Momma to remove the lid for a drink. Little did Melinda know that she had already loosened the lid? As she was leaning over to hand Momma the jug, she dumped the ice cold water on me.

She and I grew up playing Barbie’s, Church, babies, mud pies and more. There was never a time when we were bored. We rode bikes together, walked to school together and shared the chicken pox. We collected stay dogs, took in homeless cats and wayward turtles.

We would walk to the grocery store and buy Nehi Grape soda, orange Pushups or candy. If I happened to want something different and bought the one I wanted, it never looked or tasted as good as what she had picked out. I usually just waited to see what she bought and then would purchase the same.

I always believed her Christmas babies were more beautiful than mine (they were actually identical, hers had blonde hair mine had brown). Her Barbie was nicer than mine (they were identical too). She was everything I wanted to be.

Our Momma would dress us alike and everyone thought we were twins, yet I thought she was beautiful and I was just average. I wanted to be her so badly that in everyway I would dress and act like her.

When she started school and I had to stay home I felt lost. I watched the clock waiting for her to come home. And finally summer would come and we would play the days away.

Forty plus years has past since those carefree days of fun and adventure. I still watch her mannerisms, smile full of dimples and listen to her witty remarks and admire her. She is still my hero.

Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times......"