Happy Birthday Miranda!

Where do I even start with my memories of Miranda. She and I are only 15 1/2 months apart and we did EVERYTHING together when we were younger. We both had the most amazing imaginations and some how we were usually able to get our imaginations to work together! Don't get me wrong, we had the typical fights where we literally wrestled each other to the ground until someone cried. Then whoever was the non-crier would run to shut the door before Mom heard the screams and beg the crier to stop crying while pleading for forgiveness.

My birthday is in February so I always got indoor toys. Miranda always got the cool swimming pool and outdoor toys for her birthday since it is at the start of summer. She always had hamburgers for her birthday dinner.

For Christmas we usually got the same presents. One year we both got dolls that we called our big dolls. They had "real" eyelashes and their eyes opened and closed. For some reason Miranda decided to cut her doll's eyelashes off. Then she was mad because my doll still looked pretty so she cut my doll's lashes off. Then she had the nerve to lie to me about it! I remember being outside by the rhubarb plant and strawberries and being so angry at her.

Mom always made us matching summer outfits. People even asked if we were twins because we were so close in age and we loved pretending we were twins.

One year we got matching red 10 speed bikes. They were awesome!

One time Miranda had a dream that she was able to pee longer than anyone else so she won a great prize. This dream sparked a morning competition where Mir and I would see who could pee the longest! We would literally count to see who could drag the process out the most.

Christmas 1990

We had so much fun together imagining everything possible. Our bedroom closet was the most elaborate baby nursery with everything a mom could ever dream of for her baby. The swing set was a ship. Our house was a giant cruise ship and the grass outside was the vast ocean. We lived in an orphanage and had the meanest master just like on Annie. Summers were spent outside playing war, cops and robbers, playing Barbies at the Hays home, riding our bikes, playing kick the can, and watching the thermometer until it hit 80 degrees so we could go swimming or run through the sprinklers.

I think I was 11 and Miranda was 10 when we saw an ad for anatomically correct baby dolls and we wanted those babies more than anything! We saved the ad and saved our baby-sitting money and ordered those dolls. She got a girl and I got a boy. (I just realized that I had a boy first and she had a girl first...Interesting!) We loved those dolls! Mom wouldn't buy us those doll diapers that were like the real thing so we made cloth diapers for our babies and covered the cloth with saran wrap so they crinkled and sounded like real diapers!

Egbert girls KaLawnie and Emily 1991

Miranda and I were the babysitters that everyone wanted. We babysat together so families got two for the price of one! We even made a grab bag just like the book series "The Baby-Sitters Club" We started baby-sitting when I was 11 and she was 10.

We were so mean to each other when we started to mature and would hit each other in the chest as hard as we could. Just in case you didn't know this, new breast tissue is very tender!

Miranda is famous for her Freudian slips. Like having zits because she just ended her masturbation (menstruation) cycle. Or calling someone a gonad (nomad) because they move around a lot. What about a man having a double mastectomy? According to Mir it happened! One more, someone had an autopsy (ultrasound) to find out the sex of their baby!

Miranda and I were room mates in college. We had a ton of fun together! At one point I was engaged and she was brave enough to come to me and tell me that she felt that I should not marry this person. At first I was so mad at her. How dare she question my judgement and tell me what to do. But her conversation got me thinking and more importantly, praying, and I too realized I would make a huge mistake if I continued with the marriage plans. She was there for me the night our engagement came unraveled. I am eternally grateful to her for all her love and support, especially at that time.

Miranda, I hope you have the best birthday ever and that this year is your happiest yet. Thanks for everything you do for me!