Look at that face...just look at that face. Isn't that the cutest little face you've ever seen?
No, that is not my granddaughter...that is my sister. And no, she's not 5 yrs old...not any more anyway. But I would guess that's about how old she is in this picture. Let me introduce you to Bunny! Ta Da!
This is one of the few pictures around where she didn't have a terrible home haircut that Mom always insisted was a pixie cut. Why do mothers always assume it's no big deal to learn how to cut hair on their children? (And yes, I did the same thing on my kids too! ha ha)
She's been Bunny to our family all our lives. I think I was about 10 yrs old before I knew her "real" name was Florence. (yuck!) Unfortunately for her, she was named after my mother. Fortunately for me (being the older sister), I was not!
Somewhere along the way my Dad nicknamed her Bunny and that's been her REAL name ever since. Everyone in our family had a nickname. Some of them stuck, some of them didn't, some of them were used as forms of torture during our teen years....(you know how that goes).
My nickname was Tootsie...also started by my Dad. The good part is Tootsie was his name for me and it really never left the boundaries of our house. Only one of my brothers ever used that name with me and of course he has his own version. My brother Tom used to call me Tootsie Rose Lavender (with the accent on the DER part so it sounds weird). And he used to say it in a weird, cartoon-ish voice, so he could get my attention...and it worked of course!
Many years later Bunny named a dog after me...yup, Tootsie! That was the most surprising compliment I could have ever received. I was so shocked when she told me and touched.
I remember Bunny calling me and telling me she got a puppy and named her after me. I immediately thought who the hell would name a dog Elaine?? But then she said no, stupid I named her Tootsie! So of course I had to go meet my name sake. But that's a story for another time.
Bunny and I have a lot in common. We do a lot of stuff together. And we can't go anywhere together without someone inevitably mentioning how much we look a like. And worse than that, people say we sound the same too. In fact quite recently one of her neighbors said to me..Hey, Bunny how are you? To which I promptly said, Hey,I'm fine but I'm not Bunny! That freaks them out every time and usually starts the same explanations of yes, she's my sister...yes, I know everyone says we look a like...no, we're not twins....yes, I know I'm the prettiest one. OK, I just added that last one to be a stinker. ha ha
If you read this blog enough you'll see pictures of us together eventually (something to look forward to!) and maybe you'll think yeah, they do look a like..or maybe you won't. But maybe you'll see the sweet little girl pictured above and think yup, that's Bunny...because that's what I see.
