Happy birthday to my sisters, Brenda (AKA Jamwoman; Older, Bigger Lil Sis) and Karen (AKA Karen), who are both much, much younger than me.

Brenda reminds me with disturbing frequency that I was quite vociferous in my desire for a younger sister while my mother was pregnant (with what the doctors at the time believed to be “a big boy”). Lemme tell you something, Brenda: you weren’t born! You have no idea what I said while you were percolating! It’s all hearsay, and it’ll never hold up in court! Ha!

Whatever I may or may not have wanted at the time, what Mom came home from the hospital with was twin girls, identical in every respect, except that they looked and acted nothing alike. Brenda is dark-haired and boisterous, while Karen is blonde and quiet. They probably should have been named “Yin” and “Yang,” yet some people insisted on having trouble telling them apart.

Happy birthday to both of you. And Karen, I’m really sorry about that whole “smashing your finger with the sledge hammer” thing.