2 days ago July 18, 2026joynealkidney

My little sister’s big birthday

Little Sister

This photo of Gloria won a prize. It was included with the original newspaper story. She was about 3 years old.

When the atomic bombs were dropped, Dad was a B-29 commander with a date set to leave for Saipan–and combat over Japan. Because the war ended soon after, Dad returned to Iowa, to farming, and I got Gloria. She was born when I was two years old. Going to the hospital to see my baby sister is my very first memory.

      Margaret Mead noted that “Sisters are probably the most competitive relationship in the family. . .”

      Gloria was a sweet sister when she was little. After getting a shot as a preschooler, when the nurse let her choose a loop-handled lollipop, Gloria wouldn’t take one unless her big sister could have one too.

      But those of you with younger sisters can remember irksome times in your life caused by your smaller sibling.

Joy and Gloria, wearing our favorite “cherry dresses.”

      Well, when we played with paper dolls on rainy days, cutting clothes out of catalogs for them, my little sister refused to let me name one of my paper dolls Cynthia. She clung fiercely to the Cynthia monopoly for months, maybe years.    And when we went to the Halloween party at Dexter’s Community Building one year, dressed identically as witches–with new mops for hair–she won “best witch,” probably just because she was the littlest.

      Gloria even kicked me out of the room we shared. “Joy’s too messy,” she complained.

      Later this little blonde strutted around the house wearing my lipstick, my high heels. She tattled. She read my diary. She read my diary to our mother.

      I always had to dry the dishes at home because Gloria refused to. The person who washed the dishes was also supposed to scrape them first. Gloria would dawdle until Mom had them scraped and stacked, maybe even soaking, and when she thought the threats that someone else would wash them were serious, she’d materialize at the sink to do the last half of her chore.

      There are one or two things that I remember about Gloria that are more positive. Miss Bookout [her first grade teacher] said that this little sister was extremely creative and that the other first graders copied her ideas. The one I remember was strips of corrugated cardboard she’d pulled apart to make dry grasses for a picture.

      And when she was nine, Mrs. Chapler announced at her piano recital that Gloria’s solo was “Chinese Lullaby” and that it had six flats. As Gloria’s legs dangled from the bench, this tiny blonde polished off the piece without even a glance at her music. . . . 

—–

The entire story, first published July 11, 1996, and in The Dallas Center News, is also in the last chapter of The Immigrant and the Outlaw, along with this Update: Gloria Neal retired after 34 years of teaching. She lived on the farm with our widowed mother for 14 years, allowing Mom to live in her own home until just a few weeks before her death at age 97. Gloria is a member of the Dexter Museum Board and works crossword puzzles in ink. 

And she’s turning 80 next week!

28 comments

  3. My two sons had to share a bedroom like you and Gloria. I thought they were both devil-may-care messy until their junior high teachers commented on their neatly organized lockers. It turns out the younger one had been scattering clothes, papers, and other things around their bedroom for years to annoy his brother. Siblings! 🙂

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  7. I am the oldest of six (with three brothers and two sisters) and can relate to your big sister memories. Those memories become sweeter every year. Happy Birthday, Gloria!

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    • Thanks, Arvid! She’s the museum lady at Dexter Sunday afternoon, so I hope she gets extra visitors. (I think she met you when you gave a program at Earlham.)

      Reply

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