Happy Birthday Manda!!

Today my little sister turns 24. And boy do I feel old. But in a good way. A favorite author of mine once said that "I think today for a lot of people siblinghood is a relationship that occurs primarily in childhood, and then when you're adults you still talk but you mostly talk about your parents or your other siblings or familial matters of some kind...and you're stuck with the same image of your siblings that you had when you were little. [...] I think it's an increasingly rare pleasure to know your siblings as adults." (John Green, Dec. 28: John's Last Brotherhood 2.0 Video)

I am incredibly lucky to be able to say I know my sister as an adult. And I love the adult that she's grown up to be. She's the bestest little sister a girl could have. So sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate with you today in person! Now I recognize that most of you might not agree that 24 and almost 27 make us adults, but to that I'd remind you the last time we really lived together for more than 3 months of the year was in 2002 almost 9 years ago.

Like most teenagers we had our differences, we bickered and fought, but when push came to shove we had each others back. When I went off to college I think it hit us both. There were lots of IM sessions and homework help phone calls. When she went college, I realized how not helpful I was going to be when it came to college advice. We both ended up at small private liberal arts colleges, but that's where the similarities ended. My one-class-at-a-time in the middle of nowhere college with a random roomie and not knowing a soul experience was so not going to help the girl going to the traditional semester college in the heart of Madison living in a single and keeping up with high school friends in town.
But even without useful advice, she flourished. And then paid me back when I moved to Madison a year later for grad school. Suddenly the roles were reversed and she was my guide around the city and the public transport and the restaurant scene. Those 2 years spoiled me. Having my sister across town was great (sometimes stressful and crazy), but I wouldn't give it up for anything.

So far the fates have kept us geographically close, and I know as we get older and find our way in the world this might not always be true. But I do know one thing, siblinghood is not something we'll only experience in childhood. You're stuck with me now darling. Happy Birthday!!!