To my sister on her 27th birthday:

Happy birthday!

1. Time flies, huh?

It’s still weird to think you’re 27 now. It feels like just yesterday when you were in fifth grade and I was in first and we were actually in the same school for once. Even though I never had to, I knew I could always go down the hall to find you if I had a problem.

2. Across the country:

It seemed a bit easier when you were living in the city and we could be able to visit you during summers and Christmases and you could come back. Now you’re all the way across the country in Seattle. At first, it was only for a year, but there was talk about extending that. It’s much harder to try and get to Seattle than it is to get to Brooklyn.

3. Who really is the oldest?

Let’s face it, sometimes, if you look at the two of us together and hanging out, it’s hard to tell who’s the oldest or the youngest, given our craziness (and our height difference...). Even though it’s interesting, I kinda don’t mind the dynamic. It makes for fun days.

4. A personal stylist:

If I was ever in need of more clothes (that didn’t give off the impression that I was a tomboy), you were always there to help. You designed my middle school moving up ceremony dress for me (and even did my hair) and I got a lot of compliments. You designed my eighth grade Halloween costume, honoring a very iconic music figure and everyone knew who I was immediately. Along with that, when it came to being the younger sister, it meant the inevitable hand-me-downs (or even just openly stealing clothes from your room). I managed to pull it off for someone who doesn’t like to dress up and prefers wearing sweats every day.

5. Real talk:

I know I hassle you a lot to get married and have kids so I can have a niece or nephew (and apparently Mom’s starting in on it too...I swear, I had nothing to do with it). But I get that you prefer to wait a while and take your time, and you probably don’t even want to get married. It’s cool, totally, it’s the 21st century. And you’ve said you wanted to adopt. Adopting is totally okay and, really, I hope I get to adopt too (along with having a couple of my own kids). You do you all you want cause that’s just fine.

It's been a wild ride with our ups and downs and crazy moments, but I loved it. Happy birthday, and hope Mother Nature doesn't give our town bad weather on your birthday (...again...)