My sister, Torey, is a beautiful woman. Those of us who love her probably take her beauty for granted. Because she’s pregnant I have been making a point of telling her when she looks especially pretty, but I don’t remark on it nearly as often as I notice. She’s really beautiful.

The other night my mom invited all of us to have dinner with some other family from out of town. Torey had done her hair and wore a shirt that is reserved for special occasions. She looked lovely. I wasn’t the only one to notice. Her daughter, Ren, did too.

“Mama,” she said, “you are beautifuller than roses!” My mom had a bouquet of roses on the table. We all laughed as Torey scooped her up for a hug.

Ren had just begun.

“You are beautifuller than tulips!” “Oooh!” We said

“You are beutifuller than princesses!” We all pretended wonder at that. I mean she was talking princesses.

“You are beautifuller than kitties!” She was getting into Holy Grail territorry. Kitties! Wow.

“You are beautifuller than puppies! Cept for Jack.”

We all burst out laughing. Torey was the first to admit, Jack is an extremely handsome dog. No insult there.