Thursday, February 22, 2007

Happy Birthday, Martha

It’s my sister’s birthday today, February 22. And her name is not Martha. That’s the name that Uncle Curtis called her when she was young. George Washington’s birthday; February 22; can’t call a girl George; Martha was George’s wife’s name…MARTHA.

Growing up, her role was the “Picker” and mine was that of the “Whiner”. She was so good at finding a nerve that she should have been a neurologist. She gave me a karate chop across the nose which elicted the now classic response “YOU COULDA KILLED ME!”, and it was her that picked up on the "I can see the truck from here" phrase, immortalized in our family.

As we grew, she also found the treasures where I failed to see them. After college, I would be in my room drawing, flinging unsuitable sketches to the garbage. She rescued several of them, picked nice frames for them, and hung them in her house. On seeing the picture framed and hung, I was amazed at how little it looked like a reject and how closely it resembled real art. She has framed a number of my pieces and they look pretty good.

Her eye is artistic and she has the potential to create some really nice watercolors, and I hope this is the year she slows down to pursue that pursuit. She recently refinished her original wood floors, so she's mighty handy, too.

My sister has always been a tireless supporter of mine, and she has supported me even when she did have tires. I appreciate that so much.

Happy birthday, Martha!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here are some other notable folks that share "Martha's Birthday.

John Ashton: 1948
Actor, of Beverly Hills Cop

Drew Barrymore: 1975
TV/Movie Actress, b. in Los Angeles; E.T., Altered States, Firestarter, Irreconcilable Differences, Poison Ivy, Waynes World 2, Everyone Says I Love You, Scream, The Wedding Singer, Ever After, Home Fries, Never Been Kissed, Riding In Cars With Boys, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Charlie's Angels movies, Duplex, 50 First Dates, Fever Pitch, Curious George

William H. Frist: 1952
Senator

Bobby Hendricks: 1938
HALL OF FAMER, Rhythm and Blues Singer, of The Drifters

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy: 1932
Senator

Paul Liberstein: 1967
Actor, The Office's Toby

Kyle MacLachlan: 1959
TV/Movie Actor, Twin Peaks' FBI Special Agent Dale B. Cooper; movies Blue Velvet and Dune, Sex and the City's Trey MacDougal; some say b. 1958 or 1960

Don Pardo: 1918
Announcer, of NBC staff since 1944; for Saturday Night Live, Jeopardy, 50s prime time TV, daytime game shows, etc

Jeri Ryan: 1968
Actress, German, Star Trek Voyager's Seven of Nine, Boston Public's Ronnie Cooke, The O.C.'s Charlotte

Lea Salonga: 1971
TV/Movie/Stage Actress, Singer, Aladdin's Princess Jasmine, As the World Turns' Lien Hughes

Al Sears: 1910
Jazz Performer, Reeds; of Duke Ellington band

James Wlcek: 1964
Soap Actor, As The World Turns' Linc Lafferty, Walker Texas Ranger's Trent Malloy

Anonymous said...

I hope it was a happy one for you Martha.
Good people deserve good birthdays and you guys (picker and the whiner) are two of the best people I know. Many happy returns :)

aA said...

who said that?

anonymous,post your name, it's driving me crazy!

sorry, i'm whining, aren't i?