La is all the wonderful things she is due to a large extent, in my view, to growing up in a big, bustly family such as ours.
The second of four girls, one by one they have grown up beyond her and to a larger or lesser extent, become her carers. My Mum has a poignant memory of a tiny Becky spoon feeding a much bigger sister when she had to be well under 2 years old herself.
Looking back, I can get quite teary worrying about the effect having such a needy, noisy and embarrassing sister must have had on them when they were really tiny. Anna, age 3 had waited quite a while for a sibling companion and what did she get? A whiny little sister who puzzled all of us and took so much of her parents' time and attention.
La was two and a half when Becky turned up, a bruiser of a baby who nonetheless was defenceless when La developed the horrible habit of pulling at the baby's lustrous hair. She still bears a tiny scar near her eye from a time when La woke her up by clawing at her face.
Melissa, five years later, had to cope with the same old crap. La still needed a buggy so I often had the baby in a sling as I manoeuvred a double buggy. It wasn't long before an ever-independent yet tiny toddler Becky gave up her seat to help me push the oversized La with her sister 5 years younger.
As La's youngest sister. Melissa will be off to university in September, it will truly be the end of an era.
La, her Dad and I, but most of all La, who can't work out when she will see them again, suffers most. Ironically, Anna and Becky probably miss La back rather than their parents. It's not as if they can have a cheeky Facebook exchange with La or a quick chat before they go out for the evening to keep the love alive.
When they call they want to know what La's up to and I have to relate the last funny thing she did or said. Only time will tell whether they are more positives than negatives growing up in a family such as ours. I just hope the girls look back and know, although it was tough, we really did our best.
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