Once-In-A-Lifetime Date 12/12/12 makes Mike & Merri’s Birthday Extra Special

Today is a very special day.  Not only is it a once-in-a-lifetime date, 12/12/12, but it also happens to be my brother and sister’s birthday.  Yes, I know, my birthday was just three days ago on the 9th.  We’ve determined that my parents were very busy during the month of March.  Ahem. 

Here we are in a badly scanned photo, but it’ll have to do:

My older sister Kimn was fortunate to have been born in August – no conflict with the holidays, and she didn’t have to wait an extra year to start school.  Though I was lucky enough to only attend Kindergarten for 2 weeks before being moved up to first grade – but we’re not here to talk about that today, we’re here to make fun of wish my brother and sister a very Happy Birthday. 

They were born one year and three days after me – though they were actually a surprise.  Well not a full surprise since my parents knew they were expecting a baby, they just didn’t realize it was twins.  Back then they weren’t all into the sonogram mode like they are today. 

The story my dad tells is that they found out on the day they were born (they were actually born a month early) and when my mom was in the delivery room my dad was relegated to the waiting room (that was also before they allowed the fathers to be in the delivery room).  One nurse came out and congratulated him on the birth of his son, but ten minutes later a different nurse came out and congratulated him on the birth of his daughter.

Naturally he thought the hospital was trying to pull a switch on him, so he demanded to speak to the doctor, who finally came out and explained that he was the proud father of paternal twins.  It took a while for that to sink in.

Unfortunately I haven’t gotten to see my sister Merri since I moved to PA, and all my photo albums are buried so I couldn’t pull pictures to share, and there weren’t any images of her to steal off the internet except this one from about 10 years ago:

She’s sort of a self-imposed recluse and I respect her privacy, but I didn’t want her to feel left out with the Birthday Wishes, so Happy Birthday, Merri.  I’ll harass you on Facebook later.  You’ve been duly warned.

Now on to my brother – I always tell him he’s my favorite brother.  Sure, he’s my only brother, but still my favorite.  We used to team up and try to get our two sisters in trouble, but my parents were too smart, so our pranks would always backfire on us.

Luckily he had a plethora of images to swipe off his Facebook page to share with you.  He was sporting fashionable glasses long before they became the fashion:

Doesn’t he look goofy smart?  He was very smart when he chose his bride – she’s very patient and kind, and the best sister-in-law anyone could ever ask for (and maybe a little crazy to marry my brother, which means she fits right in with the family dynamics).  They just celebrated their 20th Anniversary this past summer – here’s a look at the two of them on their wedding day:

He’s such a baby face in that picture, isn’t he?  Here’s a more recent picture of the two of them:

My awesome sis-in-law was a kindred spirit in the infertility mode – but after years of trying (and my brother giving her shots every day for over a year) they welcomed their adorable paternal twin daughters and became a family of four in one fell swoop:

My brother lives up to his status of Favorite Brother – as well as an awesome loving father and husband.  He adores his wife and daughters, and they adore him – especially since he’s always such a kid at heart:

He even lets the twins give him manicures with funky colored nail polish (and somehow some of the purple ended up on his cheek):

You know he probably got the title of Best Dad in the World when he served the twins breakfast in bed on their recent 11th birthday – the menu?  Donuts and whipped cream:

He shares a love of fishing with his daughters, and is quite adept at it:

And of course he and I both share a love of wine and winemaking – he likes to make all red dry wine while I make various kinds of sweet and dessert wines.  I think he just loves playing with the grapes:

But then again there is something to be said about the whole process – and getting to taste it along the way:

He even shared a giant bottle of wine with me when we were visiting over the summer, and willingly posed to mark it for prosperity:

Happy Birthday, Mikey – thanks for all the years of fun and pranks, and I’m looking forward to moving back so I can rejoin you in the prank mode.  Enjoy this special once-in-a-lifetime date that happens to also be your birthday – party on!

Do you have a family member who’s a favorite and also a prankster?

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