sister, sister.

“i hope you believe in yourself as much as i believe in you.”

have you ever been really, really certain about something only to find out you were completely and utterly wrong. i mean, dead wrong. 10,000 miles in the wrong direction wrong.

i had just turned 8.5 years old and in 14 short days my life was about to change forever. i was certain it was for the worse. how could a new sister be anything but a life ruining event? now i’m shuffled to the middle, forever forgotten, and no longer the baby of my family. my life was undoubtedly over.  right?  RIGHT?!?  #middlechildsyndrome

fast forward many, many years and my little sister is still my little sister, unfortunately you cannot change time or birth order, but she is far from the life ruiner i assumed she would be when she burst onto the scene 29 years ago. she has become an amazing person, a best friend and someone i know i can always count on….even if the phone calls are few and far between. she is smart, funny, creative, absolutely beautiful and kind. she has a way with people that makes them feel happy and important when she speaks to them. she is generous, happy-go-lucky, and hates almost every condiment on the planet. she recently started eating salad dressing, despises pickles more than anyone else i know, and is someone i am constantly learning something from every day of my life.

she is imperfectly perfect in a way we all wish we could be because she accepts it and is at ease with it. i mean, her messy hair looks cute, so beyond unfair.  oh and speaking of hair, she is the official hair braider of my family and all her friends.  she was getting compliments from people in jamaica for her braids, she’s such a baller.  she also has the most beautiful handwriting and has taught me words like “groufit”, “wtaf”, “droppin’ ‘bows” and many, many other words that someone my age would never come across in normal life. she has also taught me to worry less about what others think or do, that i am better off without him, and that i can do and be anything i want in this world because she will always be there to support me no matter what. she has faith in you even if you sometimes don’t have it in yourself.

i have played practical jokes galore on her and locked her in her room when she was a kid and i was suppose to be babysitting her. in turn, she has hit me over the head with a glass heinz ketchup bottle and even threw up on me once. she does a spectacular kip dynamite impression, she knows how to dress, how to cook and always has the best fantasy football team names.  we send each other pictures of license plates from states like hawaii and alaska when we see them roaming the streets, pictures of snacks and candy we carry in our purses, and pictures of us looking like total fools that only a select few would ever find entertaining.  she has been called a variety of nicknames, some really funny that have even made her laugh and some that are kinda just mean (sorry about that..) and has taken it all with grace.  she loves puns, can take a joke, dish them out and has even introduced me to some of her best friends, who i am now lucky enough to call friends as well, and they have even let me join in on their highly entertaining millennial adventures.  guess it’s not always true that a younger sister wants to hang out and be friends with her older sister and her friends, huh?  #steadychuggin’

she has made me laugh until i’ve cried and has also listened to me as i’ve cried to her. we have enjoyed countless movies together that range from the lizzie mcguire movie (we went when she got her braces on as a kid) to harry potter (she introduced me to the wizarding world) to twilight (also a kylie suggestion) to mamma mia. she always gives me the best podcast, book and candy suggestions, and is my list making, pen-loving soulmate.  we buy the same clothes without knowing the other one has done the same and even took a “family” picture in matching plaid shirts in front of a fireplace on a fur rug and put it in a birthday card for our mom thinking it was the funniest thing ever.

today is a special day because it’s her birthday, my amazing little sister, but every day is a special day for me because i am lucky enough to have her in my life. i wish you nothing but the best, nothing but happiness and nothing but love today, and every day. continue being you because the world will never see another kylie-kyle-flo-flohund-silvertooth-fatbutt flo-flonase-batface-flojo-jo-kj / fantastic-beautiful-clever-witty-happy-loving-kind-generous-amazing person like you again.  love you lots.