So in the spirit of some of my previous posts about my family here is one for my older sister, Catherine (Cat) on her birthday.
The truth is, I don’t have many REALLY young memories of Catherine. She was 9 years older than me, and interested in boys and New Kids on the Block for the longest time. I remember in England when my parents had to overnight a package back to the USA (it cost a lot) and Catherine was made into a dishwasher to pay off the debt. But, by the time I was 9 years-old she was off in college at Bryn Mawr. I DO remember Cat’s graduation from high school and college. I remember drawing a lame picture of a plane for her when she was sad her freshman year of college.
After Cat’s return from Germany for her mission I remember her going off to Michigan for graduate school. I remember talking to her boyfriends and such on the internet, which was always a good time (courtesy of, Dean). I remember when her and Jason got married, and wearing my varsity jacket to the reception and my first introduction to Jason to him saying, “Eyyyyy, I’m the Fonz”, something neither Jason nor Catherine will forget. I remember walking the Muir Trail with her. I remember other backpacking trips, too.
So about 16 or 17 I formed a more complete understanding of my older sister. First, she is extremely nonjudgmental. You can tell her anything, and she’s not going to think you a bad or evil person. She might recognize a mistake, and tell you, but she will point out all the good things you do, too. I remember my senior year of high school I had a party at my house while my parents were away. Lots of people booze and such (many of my fellow classmates said it was great party, I guess I had a talent). Well, my parents found out, and I was pretty upset, because I basically thought my life was over. I talked to Cat a lot over that week, basically really upset about how much trouble I was in. Cat never got on my case, told me some of Jason’s stories and told me it’d be fine. It turned out to be fine, though being grounded the second half of senior year was hard on my social life.
In college Cat gave me a lot of good advice about life in general. There would be times that I’d have a rough patch, need advice, and Cat was always able to give it to me. Again, without judging or looking down on me. In 2004 and 2006 I helped Cat and Jason move (so they owe me), and she came back to our hometown. She had two dogs (which I love), and spent a lot of time with them so I could play with Cleo and Zoe.
When I moved back to New Jersey for grad school I spent a lot of time with Cat. Whether just relaxing around, watching TV, talking about stuff, it didn’t matter. The big thing was that as we were both older we had a lot more similarities than either of us realized as we were younger. Cat was the closest one to me during my crazy 2009/2010 time in which unemployment and loneliness were at its worst. I could always go to her house and feel better, talk about how I was going crazy, and play games.
Cat and I also share the unusual Lyon quality of loving old dead things. She’s an archaeologist, and I’m a historian. Basically she digs up these old things and tells us what it is and what it does. We historians then write books about what it meant long-term. Cat was such a big help on my thesis my senior year, something I couldn’t have really understood without her. Plus, I think my interest in Greece began because I saw how cool it was watching her!
So this is Cat’s birthday present. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SISTER!
