2 of 4

Liz was born 7 1/2 years after me. She was definitely an interesting addition to our family. Mary and I had been so about us for so long that she was like a new doll that we were required to share. We used to tease her about having to trade in a very popular pet monkey (which we never had) to make room for her. She put up with us abusing her toys - specifically a bird that hung briefly from a spring on our bedroom ceiling.  I guess you can only throw so many pillows at a hanging animal before one catches. Boy was she mad at us.
Mary and Liz shared a double bed and that created a bond for them that Liz and I never had. Liz was sort of Mary's baby sister - I got my own later, but that blog is yet to come.
Liz was always the one who depended on her own friends. In truth, she was required to make her own friends since Mary and I were similar ages, and when she started needing friends Elaine was just too young.
When I was in 8th grade, Liz started kindergarten and we would walk to and from school together. It was fun to finally be the big sister.
Mom raised the younger kids much differently from Mary and me. There was a tolerance for fault and lack of rules that allowed Liz to develop her own style at a young age. Mary and I had a  level of discipline never transferred to any of our younger siblings.
Liz paved a rather crazy road wearing risque clothing while hanging with friends who were none too smart, boyfriends who can only be described as missing a chromosome and doing jobs that required minimal commitment. But suddenly she got it - she got it all. She decided that being a waitress was not enough and became a hostess at Red Lobster. Then to a factory job where her ability to adapt made her a valuable (though unappreciated) worker.She decided her choice in men wasn't guaranteeing a future and picked Andrew - a normal guy with drive, ambition and intelligence. She changed her way of acting and settled into a married life with a nice home (actually bought the house she grew up in) a responsible position and a wonderful husband. She recently went to school to graduate as a nail technician. She works full time at a spa, pampering the rich and beautifying the plain. Her incredible work ethic and unique personality make her a natural to work with the public. People depend on her, need her and appreciate her. She shines now that she is in job that requires her artistic skills and rewards her for her work.
Liz is very artistic. She paints, works with yarns and threads, decorates cakes. She is a good housekeeper, not because she is so neat, but because she values her home. Her home is an example of her artistic ability, her spiritual nature and her need to be in control of her life. After years of searching and wondering what she was destined to be, she is finally achieving it.
There is a simplicity about her that may come from satisfaction, or from not really caring, but whatever it is, she has made it work.