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Alli’s First Year of Life

     I had a perfect life. I had all the books and toys I needed. I would go to all the baseball, football, and basketball games I could go to with my dad. My dad was on a baseball league himself. During the day I went to preschool and played all day long. At night I would play catch with my dad or go on walks with my mom. This all changed on June 5^th, 1986.

    That afternoon, Alli Baba was born.

    While my mom was in the hospital healing from labor, I went with my dad to one of his baseball games out of town. We were running late and picked up my mom a lot later than she expected. I remember she wasn’t too happy about that.

    We were fine when it came to money, my dad being a sales man for the P&D newspaper and my mom working at the Yankton Medical Clinic. The new baby got all the toys. I remember her "glow worm" and "Kermit the frog" were her favorite toys, not to mention my masters of the universe figures she loved to chew on. Her nickname was "Alli Baba," because she couldn’t go anywhere without her bottle.

    I tried to introduce my sister to all my cartoons and the Disney’s Great Mouse Detective movie which had just come out, but my mom always had to watch "The Cosby Show," "Family Ties," or "Cheers." And of course there was my dad fighting to watch "Crocodile Dundee," or "Aliens."

    Most of the time Alli Baba didn’t stop me from having a fun time though. On weekends we would still go watch my dad play in his baseball tournaments. On the way up to out trips, we got to listen to the hits "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Addicted to Love," and "Greatest Love of All." Once we got to the games, Alli would just sleep in her stroller, and we would put a blanket over the top.

    Both good and bad things happened the year Alli was born. The Challenger Space shuttle exploded killing seven astronauts. We also bombed Libya. There was also a fire in South Africa that killed 177 people. Meanwhile, Alli had constant ear infections, and we didn’t get much sleep at night. Also, Patricia Wheel died at 42.

    On the other hand, Nintendo’s first came out the year Alli was born. Also, Chicago won the Super-Bowl vs. New England and the New York Mets won the World Series vs. the Boston Red Sox. I knew they would win!

    I was excited to have a baby sister, but I had thoughts of jealousy when she got more attention. Now I know that she IS my baby sister, and I need to protect her the best that I can and show her and teach her things. That summer we even went to Rapid City and visited Flinstone Park and got to stay in a cabin for a vacation. I got to go on all the rides I wanted. I knew having a little sister wouldn’t be bad after all.