Happy Birthday Little Sister

January 24 is a very special day. It comes every year, and 24 years ago my younger sister, Kimberly, was born.

I was very confused by her existence at first. When my mother went into labor and went to the hospital, I thought she left me. I wouldn't visit her and I didn't want to talk to her on the phone. I was three, and in my world, my mom was gone forever. Then, a few days later, she came home with this baby that looked like one of my dolls ... except she really cried and pooped. And, my mom said I couldn't carry my sister around the house by her legs. I guess I must have tried that once.

I may have been confused by my baby sister, but I loved her right away. Every time she cried, I would stand next to her crib and cry too. I didn't know why she was crying, but it made me sad to hear it, so I joined her.

As the years went on, and she finally stopped crying, we became best friends. We let our imaginations run wild. We created pretend friends, played with our 50 Barbie Dolls and pretended we were in a bicycle competition when we rode around the block.

Then, as we became teenagers, she borrowed my clothes, went through a phase where she copied everything I did and she actually looked up to me. Of course we fought, but we never stayed upset for more than 10 minutes. When I came home crying because of mean girls at school, Kimberly never laughed ... she always gave me a hug. And when Kimberly was having a rough day, I always made her laugh by, well, just being my goofy self.

Now that we're both grown women, a few things have changed. She doesn't copy everything I do anymore, we left our pretend friends behind and we can't play with our Barbie dolls anymore because our mother sold them in the garage sale. But, we are still best friends. And, even though she may still look up to her crazy older sister ... I look up to her now. And not just because she has surpassed me in height, but because she is an incredible woman. The world was blessed 24 years ago with an amazing daughter, sister, wife, and friend. We're pretty lucky to have her.

Oh ... there's one more thing that hasn't changed. On her wedding day, when she cried ... I cried too.

Happy Birthday Babe

My sister and I (the birthday girl is on the right).