Deanne

Where do I even begin? Although my youngest sibling, we are separated by 9 years, I was closer to Dee than any of my sisters. I dutifully fed her and changed her and placed her on my parents' bed, where my brother and I would bounce her almost to the ceiling. Over the years she would serve as gatekeeper when my parents were away and the house was overflowing with teenagers, empty beer cans and pot smoke, and Foghat as loud as our record cabinet would go, and the cops would come to the door and she'd say, no officer, everything here is fine, and she'd flash that smile out of that cherubic face.

She was the only person on the planet brave enough to get on the Teacups at Disney World with me and my brother, who worked as a team to spin the cups fast enough to open time vortexes throughout Fantasyland. When centrifugal force threatened to literally launch her into space, as the responsible brothers that we were, instead of slowing down, we stuffed her under the seat.

Of course there was the time that I was pushing her in a whale buggy at Sea World, and I was distracted just long enough for her to roll away, picking up speed, until I caught her a split second before plunging into the shark petting tank.

I take full credit for introducing Dee to her lifelong passion for music concerts. We went to a 4 hour Grateful Dead show at NIU (followed by the infamous pumpkin raid), we saw Nils Lofgren play at the Roxy Theater on the Sunset Strip in LA, we saw Renaissance and fusion guitarist Al Dimeola, we saw the Go Go's at Alpine Valley. Great times.

Now it has been my privilege to watch her raise daughters of her own, although presumably NOT dropping them off the bassinet, and growing into the beautiful, vibrant woman she is today. So on the occasion of her birthday, it is my honor to say, I love you Dee, and thanks for the memories.