Today is National Siblings Day. While this is not a federally recognized holiday, the governors of 49 states have recognized this day at the state level. I’m not sure which state has been the hold out, but they really need to get their act together. If I had to bet, I would pick Vermont. They always have to be different up there. Anyhow, the idea behind this holiday is for siblings to celebrate their relationships with each other. A concept which is both honorable and dangerous at the same time.
The photos I have selected for this solemn holiday come from a family trip to Disney World in 2002. My daughters are relaxing in the stroller. Their faces reflect the sweat and fatigue that any child succumbs to after a full day of magic in the world’s happiest place. Unfortunately, their parents (that would be us) selected a treat that was not created for the Florida heat and humidity. A cookie that will forever be known as…the evil Mickey cookie. It was a large, Disney sized, sugar cookie in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head. For those of you not familiar with Mickey Mouse, he has two very large black ears. On this particular cookie, those ears were fully iced with thick black icing. By the time we noticed the tragedy that was unfolding in the stroller, it was too late. However, in keeping true with Walt’s magical spirit, we waited until the parade was over to dash to the magical bus and begin the process of deglazing the children. Melting black icing on an evil Mickey cookie causes magical damage to everything it touches, to include the souls of the parents responsible for purchasing this evil treat.
Yes, this was a real mess that my wife and I were solely responsible for. However, those nasty cookies brought more happiness to our daughters in the moment, and later provided us with many family laughs. Life is a very messy process. It is full of unintended consequences, regrets and imperfect decisions. But we keep moving forward as we learn and recover from those moments. We wash the black icing away, toss the clothing in the washing machine and wake up the next morning ready to enjoy another day in the happiest place on earth.
I hope you all have a joyful National Siblings Day. If you have the opportunity to share a treat, or kind word, with you sibling, please do. Life is too short not to. We live in very messy times that can, at times, be hard to clean up after. And sometimes, just a kind word to one another is more than enough.
Happy NSD shout out to my sister Suz. I would celebrate with you if we could. Even in Vermont.
“I sustain myself with the love of family.” – Maya Angelou
