telling stories

Every now and then Elizabeth and I will be hanging out and I'll say something in a dumb voice or sing a line from a song at an absurd volume and she will laugh at me or smile and shake her head because she thinks I'm silly. But it's a good silly, a silly I understand because inevitably when I'm hanging out with Katie she'll do or say the same kind of thing. And I'll smile or shake my head because it's funny, and because it's my big sister being silly.


I realized today on that Katie girl's birthday that I learned how to be a good older sister because I have a good older sister; so much of the way I interact with my younger one comes from the lead I've taken from my older one. I figure Elizabeth will want to run errands with me or go to a concert because I always want to do those things with Katie. I introduce Elizabeth as my baby sister because that's how Katie still introduces me. I keep trying to convince Elizabeth to take a road trip with me this year because Katie planned a fantastic one when I graduated high school. And I know as the age gap that can seem like a big deal closes more and more every year, that Elizabeth and I will sometimes forget who is the older and who is the younger because we'll move into a really, really wonderful friendship.

So when Katie was born today 32 years ago, I obviously wasn't alive, but I count myself real lucky I got to come around 6 years later. And I'm thankful for the twenty-something years I've had with a big sister who seems as excited to hang around with me as I am to hang around with her...which is precisely why I just gave her the birthday present of a visit from me next month. Lucky lady!

I am sure she can't wait to buy me dinners at restaurants I can't afford and let me wear all of her clothes (though for the record, Elizabeth is NOT trained yet to be cool with me borrowing/stealing).