A first for everything? Summer starting off full of them

<p>“Did you know that all toilets make a different sound?”</p>
<p>My 4-year old niece Faith posed a question that I had never pondered as we washed our hands in my bathroom during Memorial Day weekend.</p>
<p>Of course, curiosity led me to inquire: “Faith, do you have a favorite toilet sound?”</p>
<p>She answered succinctly, “Yes, mine.”</p>
<p>I must admit that I have never been asked that question — it was a first. I have made a mental note to start listening more intently.</p>
<p>Another first was welcoming the new nickname I was awarded by the additional 2/3rds of the triplets. Four-year-olds Emery and Reese who like to exclaim: “Hello, Janet,” when they pass by my house.</p>
<p>I haven’t had a new nickname since high school, but I was gifted a new one last week: “Aunt Janet, on the hill.”</p>
<p>Another first was experienced at the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, when a man seated in front of us proposed marriage with a green-colored, apple-flavored Ring Pop. Yes, the sucker variety.</p>
<p>She said “yes,” and they hugged and cried. I’m fairly certain she used her engagement ring as a mid-race snack. He told us later that he chose this particular flavor of Ring Pop because she was the “apple of his eye.”</p>
<p>There have been a variety of firsts on this day of June, including the first awarded Pulitzer in 1917. In 1896, Henry Ford drove his own invention, an ethanol-powered four-wheel vehicle for the first time.</p>
<p>May your weekend be full of firsts — from Aunt Janet, on the hill.</p>