March Days

Growing up in my large family, we sometimes combined all the birthdays in a month and just had one party.  It saved money, etc, but not everyone was happy.  I was one of the many July birthdays and so I never really got my own party but it was okay.  Now that I have my own family, I am noticing that life is repeating itself - only now the dominant month seems to be May.  February is good, too, but today I decided to check out March, since my own wonderful husband celebrates his 76th birthday tomorrow.  What I found was that while my immediate family only has 2 birthdays and one anniversary this month, I could add 2 sisters and a niece and it becomes quite crowded.  My sister Marion was born on March 27, and she was the oldest of the siblings (one had died in infancy before Marion).  I was around 12 years younger than she was, yet we were so very much alike and had a special relationship from the very beginning.  I remember when I had rheumatic fever and had my tonsils out and missed a month of school -  Marion brought me special gifts and spent time with me.
After she married, I would spend lots of time at her house and we would go shopping, attend concerts and operas together.  Her husband took pictures of everything and everyone, and most of the pictures of me that still exist were taken by him when I visited them.  While I was in college, the friendship continued long-distance.  After my marriage, she and her husband would come to visit us, once by boat, and often by car.  Once we moved from New York, she would help us finance the few trips back for a Christmas, or other special times.  She also flew out to Oklahoma to visit us, and had tickets purchased for a bus trip to Iowa to see us, when her heart gave out unexpectedly and she passed away.  I love the memories I have with each sister - it's just that there was something special between Marion and me, and I will always treasure that!                                                                        
My other "March sister" was Shirley, born on the 11th, about 8 years (and 3 brothers) before me!  Shirley had a rough life because she contracted polio in her early teens and would go on to have several relapses in the subsequent 57 years before she died at age 70 (I think).  She had to wear braces, attend a special school, and miss out on a lot of living that teenagers and young people value.  She worked at a Sheltered Workshop for many years, and never married.  We kidded a lot about the fact that our most vivid memory of Shirley was how she liked to stand over the heat register, eating a raw onion, and drinking a Pepsi. But she was really as loving a sister as she could be with all that she faced.  She tried hard to guide my younger sister and me and "protect" us from the brothers.  Shirley never wrote much, never called on the phone, but was always so very glad to see me when we would visit back in New York.  I did love her and always wished I had known her better.

My March memories are mostly good and it is fun to look back and enjoy the past.  On March 15, though, I am especially happy because it means that for one more full year God has let me have my sweetheart with me!  I am very blessed and so I say, once more, "Happy Birthday" to my sweet husband, who turns 76 in this 2016!  How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways....