Happy birthday to my little, and totally grown up sister, Emily.
She may also be referred to by me as the following: Em, Emmy, Nemily, Princess Banana Pants, Emilio Estevez, Dumb Dumb, Girl, Hey Stupid, etc. I rarely call her by her actual name, so I felt like I should share her pseudonyms. The picture above is our first known photo together. From the picture, it appears as though my mom wasn’t quite sure I’d be able to handle little Emily, but we seemed to figure it out just fine.
Em and I have a very rare bond. One that I am MORE than fortunate to have in my life. She is, and always has been, my very best friend. She’s knows me inside and out and there isn’t a thing in this world I wouldn’t share with her or trust her with. She doesn’t judge me, loves me unconditionally, calls me out when I’m wrong, points out the other side when I’m upset, calms me down when I’m angry (or makes me angrier until I finally decide to calm down), and is the truest, most genuine person there is. We have been through the best of times together, and the very worst and hardest time together. Quite literally, holding hands along the way. (Don’t judge, totes normal for adult sisters to hold hands during hard times :)) We talk on the phone a gazillion times a day, laugh together all the time, can communicate with just a look, and still dress ourselves like twins once in a while (well that usually means that she finds something on a clothing rack and I decide I must have it too and we don’t actually wear it on the same day…but whatever).
Our parents dressed us in the same outfits like twins a lot when we were little and there were many years that people thought that we actually were. Sometimes people still ask if we are twins, because we look a lot alike. In the midst of one encounter, I was asked, “Are you two twins?” -No, we aren’t. (giggle giggle) “Oh, then are you her mom?” (giggle stop) …I’m not sure how I went to being the same age to being her mother, but ok. 😉
Our friends, family, and husbands can often be found ignoring us when we are really “on.” “On” usually means laughing hysterically and talking about stuff that no one else knows about or singing ridiculously or just being generally obnoxious. As I write this, I think to myself, “well that sounds kind of rude…maybe we should scale that back a bit.” And then I think, “abso-f-in-lutely not. Those are some of the best moments of my life.”
As the slightly older sister of this birthday princess, I always wanted to be a good example for her, teach her things, show her the ways of life that I’d encountered that she hadn’t yet, protect her and look after her, do the harder thing so she didn’t have to.
And then one day I woke up, and SHE was all of those things to ME. I feel like it happened almost over night. But she has grown up into such a beautiful human being. She is loyal, giving, loving, protecting, hysterical, so smart, and beautiful. Her beauty shines from the inside out. You can see it in her eyes, you can see it in her smile.
I’m so so blessed to have this little woman as my sister soul mate. If you know her, wish her a happy birthday…she deserves the happiest!
Here are a few photos of us killin’ it together. 🙂
We always loved having our hair curled with sponge rollers. I’m not sure how well we slept, though.
First day of school. The large hair bows look a little different than they do nowadays.
Disney.
Yep. (that’s all I could think of to say about both of our looks.)
I think I was 14 and Emily was 11 in this picture. We are still twinning, even though I’d hit my growth spurt and she hadn’t yet.
just being us.
This was taken while at a stop light, while driving. From a disposable camera. The old way we took selfies.
This was when Emily was still in high school but came to college parties with me. Dad, mom, just kidding.
This is after I had the privilege of doing her make-up on her wedding day.
There she is…the most stunning bride ever!!
Love you, mean it, the mostest Emmy!
Tessy
