Snowbird Cheerleaders
It's a Grand Old Flag
Happy Heavenly Birthday Michelle
Michelle and Heather
When Michelle and I were little girls, we thought smoking looked incredibly glamorous. We had no idea why. We just knew that in movies, the women always looked sophisticated and important. So naturally, we would pretend to smoke and promptly get in trouble for it. Some things never really change. Years later, as adults, we still found it hilarious because it reminded us of those childhood days. During a family trip to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, Michelle and I discovered candy cigarettes in a store. Of course, we immediately bought them, because what else would two grown sisters do when presented with the perfect opportunity to revisit a favorite childhood pastime? We convinced our mom to take a picture of us posing dramatically with our candy cigarettes, pretending to be glamorous and sophisticated. Mom, however, was not amused. She became genuinely upset, worried that other people would see us and think she was a terrible mother who had raised daughters with such questionable habits. The very thing we had gotten in trouble for as children was now causing her distress all over again. Michelle and I, of course, thought this made the entire situation even funnier. That memory captures so much of who Michelle was to me. She never lost her sense of play. She loved an inside joke, cherished our shared history, and could instantly transport us back to being little girls together. She made ordinary moments memorable and found joy in the smallest things. Now, when I think of that photograph, two grown sisters pretending to smoke candy cigarettes while our mother worried about appearances, I cannot help but laugh. It is one of those perfectly imperfect family memories that reminds me that Michelle brought laughter wherever she went. I miss my sister deeply, but I treasure the gift of having someone who knew me from the very beginning, who remembered our childhood secrets, and who could make me laugh like no one else. Every time I think of those candy cigarettes, I think of Michelle, and I smile.
