little sister

Yesterday was my little sister Elizabeth's birthday, she turned 17. Earlier this week my two Salt Lake brothers and their wives and I went to my mom's house in Kaysville for a birthday dinner to celebrate her birth those nearly 2 decades ago. It seems like usually in the birthday hoopla of a friend or family member I think about how I am glad that specifically that person was born. As I wrote my little card to Elizabeth on Tuesday I mentioned that thought. And as I wrote it, I realized that Elizabeth is the only person on the planet so far who I remember thinking that actually at her birth. I remember going to the hospital when Logan was born, but I was like four so that's about it.

But with Elizabeth I remember everything. I was seven I believe when my parents announced to the family that my mom was pregnant. We were 5 children already; I had Katie and Sterling older than me, both early teenagers who were in very different life stages than I, and Christopher and Logan younger than me. While it's just 18 months between Christopher and me, as little kids he and Logan were much closer because you know, little boys and toy guns and Legos and whatnot. We were sitting at the dinner table and my parents said they had something to tell us. Katie joked that what, mom is pregnant? And both my parents just looked at each other like they were caught and said yes, yes mom is pregnant. Katie insisted they were too old, that she was going to be too old to even know the baby, that we were too poor and I remember a comment about my parents being rabbit-like (which is all so hilarious to talk about now). I don't remember much of a Sterling reaction and the little boys just seemed giggly. I was seven, didn't super have a sibling buddy and loved babies so I couldn't imagine anything more wonderful than getting one of my own. I was sure it was going to be girl, a boy didn't even enter my brain as a possibility. And while the 7 of us in our family were living in a little tiny house and resources were tight and Elizabeth was COMPLETELY unexpected and who knew how it was going to work...I remember sitting at the dinner table and already thinking I couldn't wait for her to come.

And then she came! And she was perfect! And I was so proud of her (and such a teacher's pet) that even though school was out I made my mom take us to Mrs. South's house to show off that little Elizabeth baby I had gotten the first week of summer break. And Elizabeth was seriously, the cutest thing ever. We all fell so hard for that tiny being. My parents were always holding her. The little boys loved to try to make her smile and they called her Bessy from the get-go. She had a power over grown-up brother Sterling to make him coo and cuddle, much to our amazement. Katie just seemed to know how to take care of her and I wanted everyone I knew to see her and think she was as adorable and wonderful as I thought she was. As she grew we loved to watch her learn things as she turned into her own little person. Of course, we loved that as siblings we could make sure the first song she learned the lyrics to was The Joker by Steve Miller Band or that by age six The Beatles were her favorite band because, what is the point of a much younger sibling if you can't make them cooler than the other kids their age?

Elizabeth has always seemed older than her actual years. She has always been such a clever little thing with a brain that usually thinks beyond her age. She has a lot creativity inside her and it manifests itself through sewing projects and collages or doodles on napkins everywhere she eats. Her taste in books and music and movies seems adult and all of my friends enjoy her company just as they enjoy the company of my other, actual adult siblings. But I thought earlier this week as we had all arranged to get to my mom's house on a Tuesday night and there were my little brothers all grown up with wives and one with a baby on the way, about how Elizabeth was turning 17 and not 27. She is a teenager and everyone else is mid-twenties or beyond. I thought about how even though she seems so grown up, she's still our little baby sister because we were excited to give her our presents and see her reaction and cus Logan made her blow out cake candles twice since he was out of the room the first time around. And even though we were five kids for quite a while, we weren't complete until she came around and made us six and I don't think anyone can't imagine life without her being born seventeen years ago. I definitely can't.