~~ I was sitting here last night, contemplating my next image, as a heaviness flowed over me. I began to think of many things and then of people I once knew and their particular family dynamics. The two characters in the story I'm about to relate are Randa and the younger was Cynda. ~~ Cynda idolized her older sister Randa, beyond what we would normally think of as healthy today. She began to dress like her older sister when she was only three. Mrs. Baynard thought it was very cute and apparently everyone just smiled and went their own way. Growing up, Cynda took on mannerisms and even her speech patterns to mimic her older sister. Randa knew how Cynda felt for years, and constantly discouraged her. I remember hearing her say a hundred times, "Cynda, don't walk in my shadow". If only Randa would have been truthful and forthcoming, she might have encouraged Cynda to be more her own woman, and then they both might be alive today. Cynda committed suicide on Randa's birthday. Randa, wallowed in her guilt, then followed Cynda for the first time in her life, into death. It was nine months later to the minute. As the whole town came out to mourn again, the truth began to circulate amid the ugly rumors. In Randa's personal effects, the coroner found an old newspaper clipping from the Chicago Tribune. It reported the story about Mr. Baynard's trial on charges of raping his daughter Randa, on the night of her thirteenth birthday. The image revealed a sullen, but beautiful little girl, holding her bundled baby daughter in her arms. At the bottom of the clipping were printed the almost illegible words, blotted with tear stains, "Why didn't you tell me Mama? Why?" ~~ All I want to say to those who read this story is please take the time to love each one in your family. Never forget to hug and hold your children, for time has a fleeting way of passing and yesterday is gone forever, tomorrow is always out of our reach and all we have is today. May God bless you all. ~~Hugz, Robin ~~