A Heartfelt Tribute to My Sister

My sister is at college. AGAIN. She had the nerve to go off to Erie, PA for the continuance of her education at the beginning of this year, you see. Hey, I was actually getting along much better than I thought I would without her. We're best friends and do pretty much everything together. Now that we're seven hours and 360 miles apart, we still keep in touch almost every day through phones, email, and IM (I love technology).

But I have to admit that there's really no substitute for the real thing.

She left today to go back to Erie after her week-and-a-half-long "spring" break. It was a very fun break and included six or seven inches of snow, ice cream cones from Baskin Robbins, 70-degree weather, a game night (and other celebrations of her birthday), smoothies from Robek's, chick flicks and action movies, donuts from Giant, a speech and debate tournament, late nights and a very early morning (5:30 a.m.), and randomly awesome games. But it was too short. I had forgotten how much I missed having her around just to talk to and do random fun stuff with. No one else is there for me all the time; no one else is just a question away from playing a game or watching a movie. No one else understands me like she does. Yeah, that sounds like a cliche, but it's true. She and I are (to borrow another cliche) like two peas in a pod - almost exactly the same interests and almost exactly the same reactions to various situations.

I thought I was getting along pretty well. Truth be told, I still have not had any kind of emotional breakdown or strong reaction to her being gone, not since August. But today, at the end of her third break so far this year, I felt it the most - and the reason is, quite simply put, that she's my older sister and that we always have an absolutely amazing time together.

What makes my sister so awesome? Here are a few of the ways:

1. She randomly bursts into song, usually without prior warning.
2. She can do killer rabbit and spider impressions.
3. Her hair always smells amazing.
4. You do not want to be on the recieving end of her wrath.
5. People who call her a quiet person are gravely mistaken.
6. She's able to knock some sense into me whenever I need it, and even if I haven't asked for it.
7. She makes me laugh approximately every 15-20 minutes.
8. She thinks I'm weird (and she's right), but she still likes hanging out with me.
9. She still enjoys participating in activities some people would call "childish". Who cares if it's childish?!
10. We used to get into ridiculous fights about Playmobil root beer floats, pitchers full of orange juice, whose turn it was to get the mail, and whether or not I should showcase my cursive handwriting on the front of a thank-you note (she thought not). But we're past that now.
11. She's very encouraging and supportive, especially about my cursive handwriting. *coughs lightly*
12. Her pouty face makes me melt.
13. She can laugh over minor calamities or awkward situations, a quality which a lot of people seem to sadly lack.
14. I can totally be myself with her and never have to worry about what she thinks. It's really ok. She already knows I'm nuts.
15. She has the prettiest hair in the world.
16. And overall, she's pretty darn gorgeous.
17. She's very mature. Most of the time.
18. She has a little more common sense than I do, so we balance each other out pretty efficiently.
19. She's brilliant. Most of the time. ;-)
20. She's the coolest person I know.

Basically, I am so insanely thankful that God chose to put the two of us into the same wacky family. I can guarantee that the two of us are always going to have a peanut butter-and-jelly-type relationship - we'll stick up for each other and stick together, always.

Only four and a half more weeks till Easter weekend. I suppose I can survive.