What's it like

Sunday afternoon we were sitting around Enoch and Jennifer's living room.  Marianne and I were squished hip to hip in one of those chair and a half situations.  Tabor came in with a pair of pliers.

"Maybe I'll just pull the whole nail off," he said.

That got the interest of all three of his sisters.  "What are you doing?" we asked, disapproving.  That's our initial reaction with our brothers, mostly Tabor.

Katie was at the kitchen table behind us and Tabor explained she had a blood blister under her fingernail and he was going to lance it and drain it.

That was met with a chorus of don't do that from his sisters.  Olivia maintained that he should leave it alone and it would heal.  Marianne told him it was sterile if left alone.  I reminded him of the time he broke his face (after colliding with a mule) and glued himself back together.  "You're not equipped to give medical advice!" I said.

He ignored us.

He lit a match and sterilized a needle (that he was holding with the pliers.)

Enoch was characteristically silent through it all.  He's laid back in every way except when it involves a basketball and maybe his Traeger.  (He is the one who pointed out that Tabor needed to go to the doctor after the mule/broken face incident and Tabor now has a metal plate in his face so I guess Enoch weighs in when it matters.)

Olivia and I kept protesting that Tabor should stop and that he didn't know what he was doing.

Marianne extricated herself from the chair and hurried to Katie's side.  She said, "You need to do deep breathing.  It will help with the pain."

For the first time it occurred to me that Marianne is exactly suited to be a doula.  I can't imagine anyone better at 1) taking charge and 2) advocating for someone.

She had Katie doing deep breathing.  She said encouragingly, "Come on!  Do ridiculous big breaths."

Tabor said, "Stop breathing and wipe up the blood.  I'm done."

"You're done?!?" Marianne and Katie asked in unison and wonder.

"Yes," he said.

Then at two different times he came after me and Olivia with the pliers.

This is what it is like to be among my siblings.

I love those kids.

Today we're going, along with our parents, to the temple together.  We're celebrating my mom's birthday (which was last April).  Why not make the celebration last?