My Good Friend

I don't know if a brother and a sister can be best friends. Each has their own set of friends and their own crowd that they run with. When Mike and I were kids, we fought like cats and dogs, but don't let anyone else mess with either one of us, or they'd have to fight us both. I know that growing up, we were close - we played together on the beach in San Francisco, we climbed the "hill" together and to this day I don't know how we made it to adulthood. That was a big hill and at the bottom were the rocks in San Franciso Bay - big rocks! I remember one time, I got stuck half way up and was so scared and crying. I didn't think I'd make it up and when I'd look down all I saw was certain death. Mike talked me up that hill - I guess I was about 12 and he was about 9! We didn't climb that spot again - (smile).

One Sunday afternoon, Mom and Dad were taking a nap. Terri was a baby and was sleeping. Mike and I went down to the bay to play. We got some jars and filled them full of little tiny crabs. We took them home and stopped up the bathroom sink and put all those little crabs in the water and went out to play. It wasn't long, Mom was screaming out the window for us to come in. The baby crabs had escaped and they were all over the bathroom - some had even made it into the hall and living room. Boy, was Mom upset - we thought it was kinda funny, though!!

I remember as teenagers - he was going to his first dance and I taught him to dance! Now, that was funny! Once we were dancing along - showing Mom and Dad how well he was doing and he swung me around and bent me over backwards and was holding me low - out of the blue, he said, "What? they found gold in California???" and dropped me right on the floor and ran out of the room. Mom and Dad just fell over laughing!

We spent one year in high school together, I was a senior and he was a freshman. Surprisingly, we were fairly decent to each other at school!!

When we were adults - he was a newlywed and I was newly separated, there were times when I was having such a hard time and he'd take the time to come over and talk me through a rough spot - almost like talking me up that hill. What a good brother.

When our dad passed away, Mike was strong for the other 3 of us. I remember when it was time to clean out Dad's closet, Mike and I met at Mom's. He opened Dad's closet and said something about Daddy's clothes. I got very upset and Mike, so gently said to me, "Sis, you go home, I'll take care of this." I left and he took care of it and we never spoke about it again.

The last couple of years we lived next door to each other and sometimes, he'd just knock on the door and come over for no reason - just to have a cup of coffee and just sit and chat. We'd talk about our kids, our "farms", our grandkids. Sometimes, we'd solve their problems - if only they'd listen to us!!

Sure, we had our disagreements and little spats now and again, but we didn't stay mad at each other long - usually, no more than a few minutes!!

Maybe Mike and I weren't "best" friends, but, not only were we brother and sister, we were "good" friends. And, oh, how I miss my good friend tonight.

Lynn