I’m always behind on Friday.  But it’s good.  Eating breakfast with Ann East Nelson is fun.  We are full of stories that nobody else remembers about our mothers--who were sisters as well as best friends.

They were never totally satisfied with either of us.  They were always pushing us to be better, do better, try better...better was the operative word.

Over-achievement was our fate.  

And we both feel guilty all the time that we aren’t doing “More" now that our mothers are gone.  We were raised on guilt by two women who were awesome.  We were lucky to have mothers like ours who expected us to do our best and never accepted anything less.

We lived within a block of each other and had two mothers--not one.  Whoever got to us first told us what to do and expected immediate compliance.  I just thought everyone had two moms.

Ann is the closest thing I had to a sister, and although I am a few years older, we were raised in the same time frame and in the same way.  She understands what I am thinking and knows what I am going to say before I get it said.  I am blessed to have a cousin and friend who loves me.