Less Than 30 Things I Remember on My Brother's 30th Birthday

Or fifteen random memories:


* I do not have a lot of memories of my time before siblings, and the two that I do have involve pooping or peeing my pants. In the first, I had a flowered bikini bathing suit and we were in Long Island and I really had to poop. The one bathroom was being used, and I remember doing the dance in my grandmother’s bedroom right outside the bathroom, begging to be let in before finally just pooping. I remember the wet bathing suit bottom on the clothes line in the back yard. In the second, my dad was driving me home from daycare (this is how I know it was pre-Brian because we had an in-house babysitter after he was born) in his newish car that had leather seats. I don’t remember what made me pee my pants, but I distinctly remember that leather does not absorb and it was a HUGE puddle.

o How My Somewhat Random Thought Process Works In Case You Were Wondering Why I Might Start This Entry With ‘Happy Birthday, Brother. I Pooped’ – I read SKB’s pants peeing story on Thought Cannon, I remembered peeing my pants, I remembered it being in the car and then I remembered I was in the car because it was before Brian, and then I remembered Brian was about to turn 30. I probably thought of the poop story as a natural jump from the pee story. As one would.

* I got my ears pierced at The Livingston Mall the day Brian was born.

* I was supposed to be able to choose his name because my dad chose his sister’s name, but fortunately or unfortunately, Frank and Chocolate were rejected.

* We had a book called ‘The New Baby’ that my parents would read to me from that had a mom with a ponytail on the cover. The new baby in that book was a girl.

* The room that later became mine and my sister’s room was where Brian slept. It was green then, and we had a changing table where he would pee on the wall while getting changed.

* I had a brass bed in what is now Brian’s room.

* I have clear memories of my brother’s baptism. His godfather is a priest so we had it at our house, and I remember the ceremony part being in the living room because I remember the light blue rug that they still have in there. Afterward everyone hung out on the front lawn, eating and talking. I had a white dress with a blue ribbon sash. My mom has a framed picture of that day on her coffee table, and all of the older people, with the exception of my one Nana, are dead.

* I have absolutely no recollection of time between either of my siblings being born, or of my mother being home with us. I remember the day when Anne, our babysitter, started working for us. I had a blue polka dotted outfit.

* My brother was pigeon toed and had to wear those shoes with the bar in between them. You had to do some serious kung fu moves to stay out of his way.

* I remember the day we lost his first monkey, creatively named Monkey, at the supermarket. I think it was Shop Rite.

* My brother and sister had a double stroller with seats that faced each other. It was navy blue with red checks. There was a space between the seats that I was able to sit in if I was too tired to walk. I seem to remember us being at the mall a lot.

* When we were a little older, my mom took us to Bee Meadow Pool after she came home from work one night. It was really late and quiet, and Brian decided to jump off the high dive. He slipped and belly flopped and the lifeguards had to jump in and rescue him. It seemed like he was under forever.

* When we would go to Florida to visit my grandparents, Brian and I would ride their two big tricycles and take turns with Becky in the basket. We would feed the ducks at Tin Pan Alley.

* In our room in Long Island, we had New York Post pictures of the 1986 Mets. I remember Ron Darling and Jesse Orasco above Brian’s bed.

* I graduated from college before either of my siblings graduated from high school. I remember feeling very old when they went to college.