So, about my sister...

I say that my sister and I are two years apart in age, she always corrects me and says we are 20 months.  That pretty much sums up how we grew up together, constantly arguing and fighting, when we weren't completely ignoring each other.

I was only two grades above her in school, but those grades might as well have been the third star to the right and straight on til morning away from each other.  We didn't see each other, we didn't talk to each other, we didn't have the same friends and she didn't even ride the bus (stupid asthmatic with her car).  We were essentially roommates, if even that, especially in high school.

She was a swimmer and spent most of her time practicing or competing (which kudos for her since she went on to swim in college), I had work, baseball and being stupid (I was good at that, so why not do what you're good at, right?).  When we did see each other we tended to torture one another.

She runs a little hotter with her temper than I do (ok, a lot hotter), so I knew how to get her going.  She had no control whatsoever over how she was going to react coughthrewasteakknifecough  The more I think about it, we coexisted and that was about it (my parents were so lucky).

I went to college and I never, I mean never called to talk to her.  She never, and I mean never called to talk to me.  In my four years at college, she never visited me and in her five years (which is more than four, I'm pretty sure) I never visited her.  My college roommates had their brothers and sisters up, but the thought of asking my sister up never crossed my mind.

After college something happened though.  I don't know exactly what it was or when it was, perhaps our father being diagnosed  with cancer or maybe just the two of us maturing (yes I was actually more immature than I am now) or maybe it was she moved 1,500 miles away, but I started to grow closer to my sister.  I missed her being around and I definitely missed joking around with her.

I noticed that we had the exact same sense of humor (my poor mother is clueless at what we laugh at) and while we still had major differences, we respected each other.  We started to let our disagreements, which were fewer and fewer, simply fall away or if they were an issue we talked it out.

Then April 6th, 2012 happened, and my sister became so much more to me.  That's the date that my marriage ended, I mean really came crashing down on me.  My sister was on the phone with me until 4am (though she now lives in Denver so should I really only credit her with 2am?) and listened to an anxiety-riddled madman spit jibberish for hours.  Her tone was so calm, so reassuring and so full of love.  She was blunt honest and compassionate at the same time.  Most importantly she was there for me.  I will never forget this as long as I live.

I hope I never have to repay her in the same way, but I know that if she needs it, I'll be there.

She has been a part of so many of my great moments over the last several years, I couldn't imagine them without her.  My kids adore her and want to know when she's coming in from Carorado (yep she's still three and has no idea how to say Colorado).  She makes me laugh and she can take a joke like no other.  She definitely has more of my dad in her than I do, and I like that, because when I'm with her or talking to her, I miss him less.

One of my favorite great moments was walking her down the aisle at her wedding.  If you would have told me when I was 16 years old I would be walking my baby sister down the aisle, I wouldn't have believed you.  Now I'm so happy that I got to do it.  I got choked up when she grabbed my arm and we started down the aisle.  While her name has changed, her blood has not, and she will always be my blood.

So to my shitface, I call her shitface because it's a play on my father's nickname for her, face, and it is meant as the highest compliment, thanks for being two years younger!