there was a great to-do when sarah came back from her first day at school. the whole family was out to welcome her and give her hugs. and i am told that ariel, who comes home on the schoolbus, in time to see sarah go off to school, would run indoors everyday to hug his sister before she goes to school. aren't kids sweet? i wonder what it would have been like to have siblings.

and isn't it a long time ago that going to primary one was such a big deal? i remember going around the house saying to everyone "i'm going to primary one soon!" when it was my turn. oooh. we are old. admittedly not as scary as being old enough to have younger sisters graduating from jc, but sarah was born the evening before i left for uva for the first time, and now she's old enough to go to primary one. and in another two years ariel will be going to primary one too. what on earth have i been doing with myself all this time! the years to come seemed waste of breath / a waste of breath the years behind. or is it the other way round?

it's also a little like the little mermaid. the youngest sister, waiting year after year for her turn to go to the surface.