Wednesday, October 21, 2009

October 15th: Liesl’s Birthday

I already typed something up, I swear I saved it, and now it’s gone, all gone. So I guess I need to write a condensed version, as time and interesting things have passed since my sister’s birthday. (Posting note: now this is the second time I've tried to upload this... g*dd*m*!)

Twelve is a good number: last year not associated with those oh-so-frightful ‘teen’ years, and it’s divisible by 2,3,4, and 6. The latter isn’t so helpful in age, more in construction. I hope that my little sister enjoys it.

When my sister was born, I was used to the idea of a younger sibling, having gone through the, “That was fun, can you take him back now?” stage with my younger brother. That doesn’t mean I was necessarily a good sister even if I did love the bejeesus out of my siblings by that point. There was one time I remember particularly well that I discovered my little sister (as an infant) liked sleeping face down on my chest. My logical conclusion was that she’d like sleeping face down anywhere, so I put her face down in her crib, lined with high-loft sheepskin. Thankfully not too much later, my step dad turned her right way up and explained the finer points of baby neck strength and suffocation.



She was always a really cute little kid, unlike Wolf and I, she never was replaced as “youngest and cutest.” She’s still good at acting the part , but I think my brother’s bruises can attest that she is far from angelic. I, for one (too old to be hit apparently), am very proud that my sister can be sweet and loving and nice, as well as stick up for herself.

This summer, my sister impressed me even more than usual with a garden. Our Mom had gotten the vegetable growing bug, and she let ‘Bean’ have her own bed, and she gave Amy and I one to tend as well. The garden that Amy and I laid claim to was not as well tended as intended- I thinned the rutabegas once, never did find out what they are, and the Brussels never sprouted. Bean’s garden, however, was gorgeous, overflowing with vegetable abundance, and framed with sunflowers in the back. She let me steal tricolor carrots from her on multiple occasions when I got tired of the kale growing in my cruciferous bed. I am really proud of my sweet, hardworking, and generous sister.
As my little sister nears the era of acne, physiological changes, catty friends, permeating awkwardness, and group projects, I hope that her empathy, sweetness, playfulness, cleanliness, and fighting spirit will help her ride through happy and unscathed. Teen years are a once-in-a-lifetime experience, with heart-wrenchingly awkward times and really exciting firsts too. With an older sister on the other side but not out of hearing distance, why should my siblings go through feeling alone?

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