CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

My big sister, Barbara, whom I have many times mentioned on this blog, was not only an extraordinarily smart little girl, she was also crafty [as is my granddaughter, Athena.]  Like all children, Barbara loved cake, and she devised a rather clever strategem to get more than the piece allotted to her at the dinner table.  She pretended to be obsessed with the necessity of making her cake and her milk come out even -- eating the last bite and drinking the last sip together.  But despite her best efforts, one often ran out before the other, so she would have to get some more milk with which to finish the cake or more cake with which to finish the milk.  Several iterations later, she would triumphantly finish both together and announce herself satisfied.  As her little brother, I could only watch in admiration and envy.  It never occurred to me to lay claim to the same obsession.  I had plenty of my own, of course, though none that produced extra pieces of cake.