The Favorite Child

I’ve always been the favorite child.
I can’t help it.
It is what it is.

My oldest sister Toby,
She’s the smarty-pants in the family.
Always has been.
Girls State, academic scholarships to top notch universities,
Her name is Dr. Toby Sachsenmaier now.
And she lives a romantic life in County Clare, Ireland.

I sent her a birthday card a few years ago.
It said, “Happy Birthday to the smart one in the family.
From the cute one!”
I thought it hilarious.
About a week later I received a note in the mail from her.
It said…”Yeah but when I’m 60, I’ll still be smart!!!”
Touché’

But I’m still the favorite!

Then there’s TC…the middle child.
Always the black sheep.
My parents were so busy keeping tabs on her that they never gave a worry about my whereabouts.
I was after all, the responsible one.

And the favorite!

But that’s all changed now.
TC has catapulted herself right to the top spot.
Trampling over me, she has just left me in the dust.
That’s right folks…
Cancer actually has some perks!

TC is now the favorite child!
I don’t even rank.
And she’s the cutest now… with her little buzzed head.
And…sorry Toby…but she’s the wisest too.

When TC talks…we listen.
She has a unique outlook on life now.
What’s important…what’s not.
Things she’d do differently if she had it to do over again.
Choices she made that she knows were the right ones and is proud of.

TC dying, is a selfless gift to us left behind to go on living well and right.
She is living out the rest of her life with Grace, compassion and humor.
We laugh hard everyday, sometimes at some of you…
But mostly at ourselves.

Every day is a gift now.
And when tomorrow doesn’t come for her,
She will have left us with so many life lessons.

I hope for me…one of those includes gaining back favorite child status.
I need all the help I can get!