My sister's keeper... but the other way around...

Tomorrow is my sister’s birthday.

When I was little, we shared a cake. Birthdays went by months in my family, and so we blew at the same time. But that was not the only thing we did together.

Not to say that my sister and I are close in age. When I was born, my sister was fourteen. In Junior High. Busy hating math, and doing all those other things that Junior High kids do. Needless to say, we were on slightly different levels.

I only cared about eating. And sleeping. And having my diaper changed. (I don’t actually remember, I’m just assuming.)

But Emily was good with that. When my mother came home from work, she’d bring me from the sitter. Then she’d feed me once. Then she’d go to sleep. She worked full-time. She had five kids. I would go to sleep too, if I were her. Anyway, Emily stayed up with me. I don’t remember this, for some reason, but I’m sure we had a great time together. After all, I was very cute. And in the process of it all, I guess she got in the habit of having me around.

So, she kept with it.

You see, when I went to college for the first time, I went with Emily. I remember standing next to her in the student section cheering for Aggie basketball – my feet on the seat beside her, so I could see. When I was in a Singles’ Ward for the first time, it was with Emily. She brought me to Volleyball games on weeknights (I read a book – never very athletic). She let me stay for game-nights (my first experience with “Spoons”). And often she brought me to church on Sunday, where she played the piano.

But it didn’t stop there. When Emily went babysitting, I often went with her. I picked cherries, and braided garlic, and played with the children who were her charges. When she worked in New York, she brought me a lunch-bag. I used it faithfully all the way through fourth grade, until I tragically left it on a bus. When she graduated from college – an official math teacher – she skipped her graduation to come with me on a school trip to Rhode Island. Upon arrival, she granted me immediate coolness by telling the fortunes of all the other kids with a stack of playing cards. To a shy girl, with two friends, this meant everything. Later, when I graduated from highschool, she took me on a massive East-coast trip. She even drove miles out of the way so I could visit Prince Edward Island –not much there folks, when it really comes down to it.

We went to movies together.

She took me to Yosemite.

We picked cats together.

She let me hold the kittens.

And then she moved away.

And I did too.

But even so, she finds huge ways to change my life. Flying down to see new babies, organizing family reunions, sending a complete wardrobe – with matching shoes and socks – for my newest little one.

She is a mother. A wife. A daughter. A cousin.

She is my sister.

And I say thank you to her, for all she is.

Happy Birthday, Em.