Leading Ladies

(L to R: Esther, Elizabeth, me, NoNo)

So...let's talk some personal stuff! :) I'm determined to keep to my New Year's resolutions and blog more about myself. Here goes...


Over the Christmas break, everyone from out of town comes home to Arizona, which makes the holidays so exciting. It's an endless friend frenzy, making plans to meet up and eating like no other. Seriously, we pig out. :P I think it's an Asian thing.


Anyway, it's become a tradition for the girls above (who all went to Greater Phoenix Chinese Christian Church while we were in school) to meet up for eating and chatter and updates. And the special thing about us is three-fold: 1) we're all the oldest child in our families; 2) all of our families' birth order is girl, girl, boy; and 3) all of our parents were immigrants to the US. Yeah, I know you wish you had friends like these!


So, while we were eating (at Joe's Farm Grill) I was not just listening, I was observing. After 20+ years of being friends (seriously!), I thought about how our lives have gone in totally different directions, scattered among the whole of the US (and Hong Kong). And I realized that being the oldest girl in the family has given us some advantages.


There are certain qualities you possess as the oldest, especially as the oldest girl: determination, confidence, and joy/passion in finding and performing work. Maybe these qualities are naturally bred because we have younger siblings? Not sure.


And that made me think about my book...since my main character is a middle child. Do I really know what a middle child thinks like? I hope that the qualities I've put into Jolene seem realistic.


I guess if I have questions, I can always turn to real life...I have a younger sister, who is a middle child, just like the three leading ladies in the picture above.


Are you the oldest in your family? Do you think you've been naturally bestowed with the qualities that are so often present in the oldest child?