TOO MUCH BULL OVER THE YEARS

What's the expression, birthdays are good for you - the more you have the longer you live?

My three siblings and I all have birthdays within a one month period. We are Taurus - er, Taureans? Tauruses? Taurui? Well, which ever one of those that is correct - I'm going to root for Taurui.

I have always loved being a Taurus - they list qualities like loyal, endurance, stability, patience... okay, okay, let's forget that last one.

And Taurus, although the sign if that of the bull, is a feminine sign in astrology, which tickles me no end.

Our weaknesses? Stubbornness, tendency to be overly possesive and materialistic.

My siblings and I are spread over a couple of decades - my oldest sister and I are 22 years apart in age - we have different fathers, we grew up in radically different circumstances, and we haven't really kept in touch very well over the years.

Today, I was actually thinking ahead... okay, truth be told, my MSN calendar reminded me that my first-in-birthday-order-sibling's.

I got all organized about 8 years ago and put in everyone's birthday - my family's (it is embarrasing when you forget your own kids' birthdays), my animals (try to explain to a cat why you didn't get him a present), my dentist (hey, do you wanna tick off someone who can pull your teeth out if he wants to?).

The nicest things? People's birthdays don't change. Although I know some women who change the YEAR of their birth from time to time.

So I began addressing the envelopes for the birthday cards to send to each of my siblings - one to California, one to Wisconsin, one to Michigan.

And suddenly I was crying.

Because April 27th doesn't talk to May 17th. May 17th doesn't talk to April 27th. May 11th and May 13th chat about once a month, but May 11th hasn't spoken to either April 27th or May 17th in about, what, thirty years? Maybe longer - I don't know.

So it's more than California, Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan. It's that our parents have died. It's that we're all getting older. It's that it shouldn't be this way.

And if wishes were horses, then beggers would ride - if wishes were fishes, we'd all cast our nets - right?