A Life Unplanned

Dear sister,

Today is your 30th birthday. I have been blessed to have known you for all almost 26 years of my life. Shocking, I know. It seems crazy to say that though. 26 years. It has gone so quickly. You are my big sis in every way but as we discussed how we do not fit in to birth order theory, it occured to me that we have been eachother’s bigs. From the beginning, we have always known what the other needed in rough times and good and have seamlessly slipped in to the necessary roles at the necessary times. You have held my hand through tears and been the shoulder I look to first. There have been so many times when I have thought you would be the only one to understand my feelings at a given moment and so many times I have been right. So right.

You are a pioneer in my eyes. An eager participant in anything new. The first to have an open mind. I am the first to hold back, to researve action or reaction. As a result, you have helped to shape my understanding of the world. You have held my hand and helped me along. You have taught me to be freer, to be less serious, to take myself less seriously.

I am lucky enough to bear witness to who you are today, on your birthday. I am struck dumbfounded that you have managed to hold on to a childlike curiousity of the world, a willingness to see everything through new eyes though you have lived in places that have the propensity to make a person cynical if inclined. By 30, most people tend to feel the burden of others’ expectations for where one ought to be by this time in life. But you have not been fettered by society’s expectations, or rather, the midwest’s expectations. You have freed yourself of those bounds and instead look to 30 with anticipation and excitement. A dance party for your 30th birthday! Turning 30 under a gorgeous moon taking a dip in the ocean! Everything with an exclamation point at the end. Or the beginning. Whatever makes you happy at the moment.

And now, now as I watch you get ready for your dance party! with sea water in your hair, you seem so radiant, so blessed, basking in the warmth of being surrounded by people who love you.

I love you.

Always and forever,
Your baby sister,
Weize