Eloise

I finally mailed a birthday card and small present to my sister Eloise. In the card, it asks how someone can be so wonderful. Eloise or El or The Kid as I call is just that. The transition from military to civilian life has been very hard for me. My life in the Air Force was very predictable and stable. Now, nothing is predictable or sure. I'm scrambling to make a new life for myself and it isn't easy. El has been a huge blessing. I can't tell how many times her phone calls have cheered me up when I was really stressed about the future or down about things. She has always been upbeat and positive. Compared to her, I've been having a cake walk though I haven't seen it that way. She went through months of scrambling to find a job in Seattle. Finally, after many ups and downs it appears she has found her niche at Trader Joes Supermarkets. She's in training to become a manager. She should be a really good one. I'm happy that she has finally found what she wants to do job wise. By all accounts, Trader Joes is a great place to work. They apparently take good care of their people and pay them well. One of these days, I'll have to go find the Trader Joes in Annapolis just to check it out. El bought a bunch of stuff from them for the family Christmas grab bag. The grab bag is a huge Christmas stocking where all members of the family drop in various items they've bought for it. On Christmas day, the stocking is emptied on the floor and family members take turns picking an item from the pile. This last Christmas, I got some salmon jerky and pepper cashews that El bought from Trader Joes. They were both pretty good. I'd definitely like to see what other stuff they have.

Back to the main point of this post. El is a neat sister and the only one I helped raise as a baby. I was 15 when El was born and I got tagged to change diapers (barf! gag! and SERIOUS YUCK!), baby sit, and watch over her (one time I didn't keep a close enough eye and when I went to find up what she was up to, I found her drinking SHAMPOO! I must have 9 lives because I swear I lost at least 3 of them that time from heart attack. I remember reading the ingredients of the shampoo and finding out it had formaldehyde in it. They use that to preserve things. I thought great, I've pickled my sister! I started pouring water down her throat to dilute the shampoo, she starting spitting up BUBBLES! I was ready to have a nervous breakdown. My Dad has arms like tree trunks and I could imagine what he was going to do to me when he found out (it was 2 years before I had the nerve to tell him what she did). Fortunately, kids are pretty indestructible at that age and maybe she didn't drink much of the shampoo. I don't know. I just know she survived and didn't appear any worse for wear.).

Last year, I got to visit El in Seattle. It was a neat time. We had lunch at the top of the Space Needle, got to see the Science Fiction Writers Hall of Fame, did a 2 hour cruise through the locks and harbor, got to see the famous fisherman's market where you better watch out for the flying fish, got to see an impressive waterfall, play some pool, meet some of her friends, and see the latest Batman movie which was really good. It saddened me when it was time to fly back to Maryland. Seattle was a very pretty city and I really enjoyed myself there. I hope to make it out there sometime to see her again. We'll see on that. Hopefully, like her, I'll find my niche job wise. As she says, something will work out. I just have to be patient and stop worrying. Not easy to do considering what a numbnut I am. Hopefully, everything will turn out well and El will be able to kid me for worrying so much about it. I in turn will give thanks for having such a great sister. As the birthday card asks how did you turn out to be so wonderful? I don't know sis but I'm very glad you did. Thanks for being there. Love, Bro.