Big Brother has been watching for 40 years

   It all began with tow trucks.
   No wait, we have to go back even further than that.
   It began with the Cracker Barrel, but not the one we are used to here. Instead of rocking chairs for checkers, my 6 ½ year-old memory has it as a fancier joint with nighttime lighting and a little ambience. This was somewhere near Danbury, Conn., where I ordered a New York Strip and a loaded baked potato. The waiter looked at my dad quizzically as if to ask if I meant to get something from the kids’ menu.
   “You heard the order,” Pops said with a grin.
   And so, we had a delightful meal on this day 40 years ago. Of course, my mom was in the hospital after just having given birth to my sister, but hey, big brothers gotta eat too.
(Enough with the snickering about how I did that and then some for four decades.)
   And so, when we moved to Florida a couple of years later, my parents both worked and I was left in charge of Kenz a lot. We turned all her toys into amazing adventures, everything from stuffed animal pro wrestling to Barbie Dolls Meet Batman.
   (Why hasn’t that movie been made? Can you say $2 billion?)
   My oldest friend Kevin helped me take care of Kenz on many of those days, and one day, we needed to get her out of the middle of the road before a car might happen by.
Nothing worked, until Kevin randomly said “Here comes a tow truck.” She immediately fled for the sidewalk as fast as her little legs would take her.
   And so, the tow truck became a thing. When we needed her to comply, we told her a tow truck might come, and she was ready to listen and fall in line. Anything to avoid whatever perceived horrors the tow truck could bring.
   Over those early years, I also saw a lot of old Disney princess movies, a little bit of Rainbow Brite and some Sailor Moon.
Sometimes I got to pick the shows, so I exposed her at a young age to game shows, musicals, original Star Trek and more.
   Later still, she took me on in Star Wars Trivial Pursuit but failed to end my undefeated streak, which still exists today. She also found ways to sit back and let my father and I tear each other apart in Hearts while she cleaned up what was left and often won.
   So we had some fun. But we have had some hard times, too. And yet, we are both still standing.
I have two amazing nephews who are talented and driven beyond words, much of which is due to gifts bestowed on them by an awesome mom.
   It is hard to believe she is 40, as it is hard to believe those four decades flew by like that.
   Like me, my sister puts up with absolutely no mularkey from this world that is so upside down. She has often been the strength and backbone of our family over the years, and boy, did we need that sometimes.
   With my dad gone, I have occasionally remarked that I am the family’s “allfather” now, but I think she knows she is the boss going forward. I think we’ll be OK, I might serve better in an advisory capacity anyway.
   Happy birthday, sis. Here’s to 40 more.
Matthew Osborne is the editor of The Northeast Georgian. Reach him at 706-778-4215 or editor@TheNortheastGeorgian.com.