Sitting Pretty

I was 8 years old and I had 2 close girlfriends that I shared my days in play.

I also had a younger brother by 4 years who came with us everywhere we went.

You see, my brother never said a word, not a syllable or a sentence and for his silence my friends didn't mind his presence at all.

One summer day, we were all walking and talking, going nowhere as children do, when from the corner of my eye, I noticed my brother was lagging behind.

Barcelona, 2008

He was at the curb, bending down, looking fascinated.

Of course, as his big sister, I had to make sure that he was okay.

Lo and behold, eureka!

There were these shiny metals that he was putting frantically into his pocket.

After some nudging, he let us see a bonanza he had found in the street; coins worth almost 75 cents.

What to do? Do you know how much candy one could buy for 75 cents in the olden days?

Somehow I managed in my gentle way to pry the money from him and attempted to convince him that I should hold the money.

He repeatedly nodded his head in refusal. "That's my money!” he shouted.

We were stunned. He never spoke before until this moment and he chose this time to speak his peace.

He began walking to the neighborhood deli shop and this time we were following him. He bought us some treats.

I knew, just like the bird, if we sat pretty, good fortune would come to us.