Tonight we went over for our usual Sunday evening activity: Downton at Kayes, 8:00 sharp and one must never be late for that. Afterwards we sipped hot cocoa with Kaye, and it brought back the hundreds of memories of my nightly special time with Stirling. Being two years apart and the best of friends for the majority of our lives, we used to sneak down after everyone was "asleep," tip toe tip toe; (it is not special time if everyone knows about it, of course). And then heat our water for cocoa and biscuits. The nightly ritual was always special, somehow the frequency did not diminish the novelty of our nightly escapades. I had to hurry or else he would finish his before my mug even came out of the Microwave. I must apologize to my other siblings, who of course caught us once in a while. Stirling usually gave them some excuse, like that he forgot something downstairs. They were a little to smart for that. So once in a while we would have visitors; Gavin was always on our tail and most frequently joined us for a trio. Clarissa was another guest on occasions. In some cases Colin was invited as he never complained or gave us trouble. The older kids were...not interested and even if they were it would have meant trouble, with a capital T.
So in honor of my adorable little brother in Argentina, I am posting an early memoir of our lifelong friendship:
-J
