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My Baby Sister Was the Unwitting Portent That I’d Never Have the “Mom Gene”

Was she in cahoots with the Universe?

Sherry McGuinn

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My sister, Diane, post her big sister’s screw-up. Used with permission

For those of you who read me regularly, you know that I don’t have human children and have never regretted it, as I prefer animals. Cats, specifically. I’m good with them and am dedicated to their care. I love them and they love me. And, in thinking about this, it occurred to me that there were signs early on in my life that “motherhood” in it’s literal sense, would never be my jam.

I was ten years old when my sister Diane was born. She was an alleged “mistake,” conceived in a room at an oceanside resort in Miami Beach, known as the Fountainbleu, famous for its neo-baroque design. And for unplanned pregnancies, apparently.

Side note: The Fountainbleue was featured in the Kevin Kostner/Whitney Houston vehicle The Bodyguard in 1992.

We were on a family vacation. My parents, myself, and my (now estranged) brother, who is four years younger than me.

I recall that during this trip I chased him around our room, playfully, mind you, and he bounced off the bed and into a wall. Two or three stitches later, and he was just fine.

Oh, well.

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Sherry McGuinn
Sherry McGuinn

Written by Sherry McGuinn

Long-time writer and big-time dreamer. Screenwriter. Cat mama. Red lip aficionado. sherrymcguinn@gmail.com

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