Jane

My sister, Jane, is one of my favorite people. She's top five, though I won't try to narrow it any further than that (being I have four sons). She's been really supportive of me, all my life.

I credit Jane with my being able to graduate high school. My mother was of that old school, where the kids were raised until they were 16, then told it was time to fly the coop. That's how my mother was raised, and how she intended to raise us. We were told that when we were 16, we were expected to quit school and make our own way. Well, in her freshman or sophomore year, Jane took a Business Law class, and I don't know if it was covered in class, or if they were just discussing it, but Jane found out that a child has the legal right to graduate high school, and the parent has to support them until they do. She informed my mother of this in my presence (I don't know if my presence was on purpose or not, but I'm sure glad I was there.) and told me to stick to my guns until I graduated. I appreciate that a lot. She was also the one to teach and encourage me in many ways throughout my growing up years.

One thing I have always admired about Jane is her artistic talent. I remember in high school, even her art teacher thought she was incredibly talented. When Jane and I lived together in our late teens/early twenties, she started a painting once, and told me it was going to be a carousel pony on the beach, with the city skyline somewhere in the background. Man, I thought that was going to be a pretty picture. I don't know if she ever finished it or not, or what happenned to it if she did.

The picture above is a picture Jane painted of me. When I was little I took piano lessons, and I fancy myself a fair pianist today, though not what I would like to be. I love this picture, it's one of my favorite possessions. (ack, I don't think that's spelled correctly.) There are allusions to two songs out of John Thompson, Book One. Can you find them?