Seesters

It's spring, so that means that it's time for my sister to move again. You see, my sister works in theater which comes and goes with each season. It's typically around this time of year she tells me that she's uprooting from our shared zip code to her next job at a theater far, far, away. This usually sends me into a flood of tears, because as the wet blanket of the family, it's what I do. But as she prepares for the next chapter, for the first time ever, I'm overwhelmed not by the sadness that my sister is leaving me, but by the happiness that she's about to go follow her dreams. Travel the world, work for fair trade crafts, who knows? But whatever it is, there's no doubt that she's determined to find her bliss. And so, as I'm missing her terribly, I'm documenting the top five reasons why I love my sister.

I love my sister because together we can survive anything.

So a few years ago, we were visiting St. Louis during July, which essentially means it was hotter than hell. Because we are cheap, we decided that we would ride the train to the park to go do some sightseeing on foot. As each minute stretched on, the 95 degree heat and 1,000,000% humidity began to take a toll on both of us. Luckily we found refuge at the park's boathouse where we had some lunch before heading out on a paddle boat in hopes that being on the water could help counter the oppressive heat. About 40 minutes from shore, my sister began to peeter out, claiming that her skinny little legs could carry us no further...great. We managed to paddle ourselves under a pedestrian bridge to park for a few minutes in the shade where the only thing we had to wipe our sweaty brows was a panty liner...what can I say, we were desperate! After a painful journey back to the dock, complete with me fanning my sister in hopes she wouldn't pass out, we crawled out of the boat with sweat dripping down our backs where we read the back of our train tickets which told us that the air conditioned trolley was in fact free. We couldn't stop laughing at our stingy mistake and spent the rest of the day enjoying the sites with the breeze of the AC. So be it touring the Gateway City, climbing the Great Wall, or parallel parking in City Park, I know we can survive anything!

I love my sister because sisters never tell.
My all-time favorite story from my childhood is the day we broke our swimming pool. As kids, we had a round, stand up pool in our backyard where our favorite way to spend the afternoon was to spin in an endless whirlpool. On this particular day, our pool had seen better days and as our dad plunked us into the water, he reminded us not to push off the sides, which I, of course, ignored. As our circular laps began, I took a giant push off of the side wall and looked up just in time to see half of the pool bend...and then come crashing down. Immediately, 2,000 gallons of water created a tsunami in our backyard mowing down everything in its path. I will never forget looking over at my sister standing with floatie toys still in hand, looking at me like, "Who is going to go tell dad!?!" Well apparently no one, because the noise of the crash brought him running. Up until about three years ago, my dad never knew that I was the culprit behind the Great Pool Crash, nor did our parents know about the nail polish spilled on the carpet, or any of our other child secrets, because like I said, sisters never tell.

I love my sister because we make a great team.
If you're a member of our family you like to play games. This could be anything ranging from Cranium to baseball. If there is one thing I can tell you, it's that if you play against me and my sister, you're going to lose. You see, we make a great team. I assume this has something to do with being raised in the same environment with only 15 months separating us, but whatever it is, we kill it. We'll be playing a game, and I'll be like, "Mesopelagic!" And then she'll scream, "Oooh, let's name the zones, the zones, the zones. Let's name the zones of the open sea!" 10 points for Gryffindor!
 
I love my sister because she's nothing like me.
 My sister and I went to the same college, but most people didn't know we were related. Anytime someone made the connection they'd go on and on about how shocked they were that we are sisters because we are so incredibly different. We look nothing alike, (she's the spaghetti and I'm the meatballs), we don't act the same, (she's quiet and reserved, I'm loud and outspoken), and we like very different things, (she digs the arts, I dig the mall). But to me, that is what makes us get a long so well. When my grandfather passed away, my grandma asked my sister to speak at the funeral to represent the grandkids. Initially I was hurt because I wanted an opportunity to honor my grandpa. However, as I helped my sister practice her speech and watched her at the podium, I knew that she did what I never could have. She was perfect and I was in puddles and it was this difference between us that made her shine. I love our
differences because ironically, they bring us closer together.

I love my sister because she inspires me.
One of the bonuses of being the younger sister is that you get to watch your sister do everything first. She often gives me a hard time because she paves the way for me to do just about everything. Recently, I was telling her that I was planning to move in with Hot Stuff and asking her how to best break the news to our parents. Her reply was simple, "Well, I just told them I'm moving to a foreign country, so I'm pretty sure yours will be a breeze." But besides making things easier for me, I get to watch her achieve great things. If there's one thing that our family does well, it's that we support each other. I know I can look to her for everything from advice about an outfit to inspiration for my next adventure. How lucky am I?

These are just a few of the reasons why I'm so happy to have a fabulous sister in my life. So excited to see what happens next for you seester. I love you BV!