I am the eldest of three siblings. My sister was born six years after me, my brother came along six years after her. “Six years apart.” How many times we have heard that phrase. “Six years apart.” Only our parents know for sure if it was planned that way, or if it was merely a coincidence.
I suppose that being “six years apart” has had some advantages. I really can’t remember much in the way of intrinsic sibling rivalry, although my sister and I did have have a few scraps. Most of those were my fault I think. None of us had to cope with hand-me-downs. We have remained close regardless of the separation that “six years apart” might imply. Although we are “six years apart”, ordinally we are the same as all other siblings; 1, 2, 3…
Today is my sister’s 53rd birthday. My birthday was a few weeks ago. I am 59. Our brother will be 47 a few months from now. We all have changed. We are still “six years apart”; still 1, 2, 3; but this year there is an additional factor that has drawn us close together. Prime numbers.
Not only are our ages prime numbers this year. They are next to each other in the list of prime numbers: 47, 53, 59; still 1, 2, 3. Ordinally ordinal. We should celebrate this. It won’t happen again until the year 2112 when we will be 151, 157, 163. Hmmm… 2112: 2 +1 +1 +2 = 6.
I think it was a coincidence.
Grampy Lash 