Just in case!

I am 2 1/2 years older than my younger sister, Amy

and we are and have always been best friends! 

As kids we did everything together. 

And when I say everything...

I mean EVERYTHING! 

We played together. 

We laughed really hard together. 

We did synchronized swimming (of sorts) together,

We waited up all night for Santa together,

We could carry-on full conversations without speaking to each other 

and  

We constantly danced in the living room together!

In fact, 

Since my proportions were somewhat more masculine than Amy's, 

I logically was always cast as the "leading male"

in our little productions.   

This meant that while Amy floated around the room

 as the pretty ballerina,

I was instructed to move as little as possible

and brace myself for the next lift, hoist or stunt! 

It was more of a supporting role, really! 

and I didn't think anything of it

until I went to my first real dance

and danced with a real boy!

Yeah!  As you can only imagine,

he looked super confused!

And just as I was about to hoist him onto my shoulder

for the classic Temple Pageant Ho-down Finale lift,

he asked if I wouldn't mind letting him lead!

Yikes...that was close!

Anyway, you get the drift!

Amy and I were together all the time. 

In fact, obviously, we always shared a room. 

And although we had our own twin bed

on either side of the bedroom,

our Mom would always laugh

 at how we would end up

in the same bed

every single morning! 

When she would ask us

 why we were crammed together in one small bed,

one of us would always say

that we had gotten scared in the night

 and found the other for comfort.

It's true!

I vividly remember being startled awake in the night.

and sitting alone in the silence of our sleeping house,

thinking...

"Why is it so quiet?"

Then I would imagine

that an axe murderer
had broken in and killed my entire family

but had left me...

the lone survivor!

But just as I was about to perish with fear,
I would remember Amy

and would gently nudge her to see if she was still alive. 

Sure enough, she was alive

EACH and every TIME

and a huge wave of relief would come over me. 

Then, I would wait and listen anxiously

 for the sound of Dad's bear-like snoring

 to rumble down the hall

as my second confirmation that everyone was alive! 

It always came! and I knew all was well...

but NOT well enough to go back to my own bed!

NO WAY!

After months of that,

our Mom decided to push our beds together

 so that we could spread out a little, yet still be close. 

But, sure enough,

we would still climb into one bed or the other 

when fear crept into our little, tired hearts. 

Finally, after all of her efforts

 to get us to sleep in our own beds failed,

our wise Mom bought us a queen size mattress

and we were in heaven!

Sleeping with Amy was always a treat too

because I never knew

quite what I was going to get in the night!

You see,

Amy was, and still is apparently,

a very "active" sleeper!

Some of my fondest conversations with Amy

have happened while she was sleeping!

In fact,

Amy has battled attacking birds,

fought off colonies of ants,

and managed to "walk" with 2 "broken"  legs

all while remaining fast asleep!

She has cuddled me upside down,

petted me like a dog and

pushed really, really hard on my nose

all while in the deepest of deep sleep!

It was always quite entertaining really

and something that I missed dearly

when she got married and left me for another!

Then, just last weekend,

I got to go to Utah for a much needed get-away

with Amy and our other sister, Laura.

I know, I know...total BLISS!

and if that wasn't enough, in and of itself,

Laura surprised us with a Suite

on the 12th floor
of the posh Grand America Hotel!

Giddy with delight,

we all walked around and checked out the fancy digs!  

I noticed that more than once,

Amy went to the sliding glass door

that led to the "pretend" balcony

to see if it would open. 

She would tug and tug and flip the lock up and down
and up and down 

and tug some more

but she could never get the door to open. 

I didn't think much of it

until later that evening

when Laura tried to crack the door for some fresh air!

As she pulled on the door and fiddled with the latch,

Amy quickly tuned in and said...

"That doesn't open!  I've already tried!"

Noticing that her response was oddly loud and quick, 

I said..." Amy, are you OK

cuz your response was oddly loud and quick!" 

Then without hesitation, Amy blurted...

"What kind of people are you?

  Who in their right mind

would bring a sleep walker

to a room on the 12th floor

with a sliding glass door that leads to nowhere?"

Oh...the demons that we bare!

I love that in a world that is constantly changing

there are certain things that you know will always stay the same!

After a good deep belly laugh, 

Laura and I assured Amy that all would be well!

But as we snuggled into bed that night,

I offered to let her tie her leg to mine...

just in case!