Love, Your Big Sister,...

It was 2nd grade picture day, only, I wasn't looking too great... I had asked Mommy to fix my hair to be special. She had rolled it up and tied it with rags. It was going have big ringlets. It's always a bad idea to change your hair for picture day (a lesson I wish I had remembered when I decided, with disastrous results, to part my hair on the side, for a change, for 9th grade picture day). When we woke up, Mommy and Linda were gone. Linda had driven her to the hospital. Now who was going to fix my hair? My hair ended up looking like a bird had tried to make a nest in it, but I was too happy to care.

It was November 9, 1966. We had a new baby sister (thank goodness she was a girl, otherwise I think her name was going to be Frank).

Daddy was in Vietnam, and I remember writing a letter to him in class:

Dear Daddy,
Mommy had the baby today. It's a girl, named Janet Carol.
She weighs 7 pounds, 9 ounces.
Love,
Annie


Janet would be 42 tomorrow.

I love and miss her so much...

Happy birthday, Jannie.
Love, your big sister,
Annie