a letter to my sister.

via

today is my little sister's birthday.

and as such, today's post is dedicated to her 
and to that beautiful thing called sisterhood.

happy birthday, beautiful mandy!

photo credit: karen kingsbury
by the way, do i not have the MOST gorgeous sister ever?!

{okay, this is not good - i'm already crying...}

dear sis,

today is your birthday.

i remember the day you were born. i was only like 17 months old myself, i know. but even though i was a baby too, i just knew you were a little breath of heaven. the day mom and dad brought you home from the hospital, i kissed you on the head and i've loved you since that moment.

i remember thinking you had the littlest hands i'd ever seen. although come to think of it, mine were probably not much bigger... but that's how it was. i was your big sister, and you were my little baby. but soon, you became my first friend...and my best friend.

and man, did we have fun.

by the way - dad sure was handsome!

remember the ice cream cones, that little orange table where we sat and played with playdough? the bubbles, the rolly pollys, the cotton wood tree in our front yard where we'd play barbies for hours? we were besties and we knew it.

remember how we loved kittens, taco dinners, and playing dolls?

i remember how you always happily let me set up shop and do your hair, even when i was a little too bossy about it.

remember when we shared a bunk bed, and when we were scared at night you would sing to me softly... until i fell asleep. even then, your voice was the prettiest i have ever heard.

i loved playing barbies with you. i loved our dance classes and recitals.... especially the ones we made up at home.

remember when we lived on the ranch and we used to ride in the back of dad's old red truck down dirt country roads, singing in harmony with our best friend rachel? i would give my right arm to go back in time and do that for just ten minutes.

remember how we used to laugh? we laughed so hard in those days, our tummies hurt. i can still laugh with you like nobody else. and i love that.

do you remember when got to float in the dead sea in israel? that was crazy amazing. and then that night, we got a room all our own next door to mom and dads at the dead sea spa hotel? that was the first fancy hotel we ever stayed in.

and all through our teen years, when we sang to thousands and thousands of people every weekend, which made everybody treat us like we were special and not real, somehow ... you were the only one i could just be normal and real with. we were the only ones who really understood. and it was okay, because we had our secret language - that glance and look. we could read each other's thoughts without putting them into words.

i loved going to greece with you. remember sailing on that cruise ship in the grecian islands?

i remember, back in high school, the day i lost the first guy i ever cared about. he walked out the door, never to be seen again. i went up to your bedroom, first thing - and before i even shed a tear, i found you sitting there on the floor, crying your eyes out for me. and then i laid down, put my head in your lap and had my first real, long, heart-wrenching cry over a boy. you just stroked my hair and told me everything would be okay.

remember when got to go to puerto vallarta, mexico? and we couldn't say no to that girl on the beach who wanted to braid our hair?

and then we kept the braids in for a couple weeks after and everyone laughed at us 'cause we were like monica on "friends" when she had a head full of braids? but we didn't care. 'cause we did it together.

i'm sorry i wasn't always the greatest friend to you, especially when i was in college. i wish sometimes i could go back and savor every moment we played together in the tall summer grass at the ranch, the simple songs we sang together in harmony - for no reason but because it made us smile. and i wish i could go back to the nights when you were just a room away ... because i miss being able to call out into the darkness, "love ya sis" and hearing your sweet voice answer back, "love you too sissy."

"remember, sisters make the best friends in the world."

-marylin monroe 

you are precious to me, sister.

there is something magical about sisterhood.

it's unlike any other friendship or relationship.

it's a kindred-spirit, best-friend bond that can never be broken,

and it grows more beautiful with time.

all my love and a kiss

(just like the one when we first met)

xoxo

your sister.

***

ps -

for those beautiful ones reading along...

go today and hug your sisters -

whether real sisters of friend sisters.

and embrace this beautiful thing called sisterhood.