I've heard it said that a sister is the best gift God ever gives you. In my case, it's very true.

My sister Linda is my best friend, and always has been. Linda is eight years older than me, but it never seemed that way. We always did so many things together that we seemed to be the same age. When I was four years old, Linda (who was twelve) played with me. And when I was eight, she was sixteen and still playing with me. So much of Linda's life has been spent in bed because she had rheumatic fever, so maybe that's why we seemed the same age.

We loved to play dolls. She had "Tinker" and I had "Cilla" (I couldn't pronounce Priscilla!). Or we'd play paperdolls for hours upon end. Susie & Sally, Texas Rose & Toni, or our movie star paperdolls (Connie Stevens, Natalie Wood, Annette, the Lennon Sisters, even Jackie Kennedy, who was First Lady at the time). That was our favorite past-time of all. And we both had an absolute passion for Disney films with Hayley Mills!

     

We did everything together, including sharing a bedroom. I loved sleeping with her. We would talk and giggle in bed until Mom pounded on the wall in her and Daddy's room.

   

We played a lot with another favorite toy ... our farm set! I remember one Christmas when our older sister Frankie had a HUGE box for me under the tree. Apparently Frankie had ran out of wrapping paper when she got to the edge of the package, because I spied a picture of Pixie & Dixie (the mice from the cartoons) on the box. I quickly showed it to Linda. By the time Christmas morning arrived, we had torn most of the wrapping paper off the one entire endof my package, and knew that I was getting the Hannah-Barbera Jely-Stone Park set, complete with trees, ranger's station and all the figurines (Yogie Bear, Boo-Boo, Quick-Draw, Huckleberry Hound, the whole gang!). We couldn't wait to get it, and when the big day arrived, it was every bit as wonderful as we had been dreaming it would be.

Television played a big part in our growing up years. We loved to watch the westerns. Wagon Train, Rawhide, Sugarfoot and Bronco Lane. Our Saturday morning line-up was a ritual that we never missed: Fury, My Friend Flicka, Sky-King and Roy Rogers. As we grew older, we saved our allowances and bought 16-Magazine to read about the boys we loved ... Bobby Sherman, Mark Lindsay, Michael Cole, and all the other teen idols. And we loved working on our "Mod Squad" scrapbook!

Many years have passed since the two little girls giggled and cut out our dolls. But today, we're even closer. Playing house has been replaced by shopping trips to the mall, but we still love being together. And we share a common love of animals and animal rights. We've both always loved dogs and cats. Linda's favorite wild animals have always been black & brown bears, polar bears, sloths, and pandas. Mine were always cheetahs, tigers, koalas and otters. But the one wild animal we share in common is the elephant!

Linda and I are both actively involved with the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. We've adopted elephants (I chose Sissy because she had such a horrible past, and Linda chose Shirley because she has a bad leg from abuse years before). We study elephants together we support the Sanctuary together.

This is Linda's adoptee, Shirley

As I said, we are both the biggest dog lovers! Linda is the best Mom in the world to her two little Maltese, Morgan & Nico. They're treated better than most people treat their children!

Linda with her "sons" ... Morgan and Nico

One thing hasn't changed over the years, however -- Linda and I no longer seem like the same age. Actually, she's the one who seems younger now! She's very pixie-ish and elf-like.

I love my sister very, very much. And I'm also very proud of her. I can't even begin to imagine what my life would be like if she were not in it.

She's very dedicated to the things that are really important to her. She's one of the best Christians I know, and is even a licensed minister now. One of the things she is most dedicated to is the fight for the rights of all living things (human and animals alike). She is extremely involved in the Pro Life movement, speaking out for the unborn children who have no voice in this world. It is a cause that is very near and dear to her heart ... as well as standing up for all the disabled in this "throw-away society" that we live in today.

Linda with friend and fellow pro-life activist, Bobby Schindler

I sometimes joke with her and call her "Pollyanna" because she's always looking for the good in people. But I'm only teasing her. I only wish I could be more like her.

Our Annual December 15th Candy-Making Night!

Linda and Morgan

Sisters and Friends Forever

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