My baby sister turns 18 today.
This is strange for me for a variety of different reasons. She is not my only younger sibling, I have a brother as well, but he is only two years young than me. Hannah is six years younger than I am.
Unlike with my brother, I remember her being born.
I remember going to the hospital and visiting my mom and seeing her for the first time. I remember the excitement of getting to hold my baby sister for the very first time. I remember being super mad that she got to sleep in Christina's room instead of mine.
Suddenly, being a big sister had changed. Being a big sister to a little brother is very different from being a big sister to a little sister. Because, while you do hope, to an extent, that your little brother will look up to you and appreciate and value your opinion, it's not in the same way because he's not a girl. But with a little sister, she could be like you and that has the potential to be a very good thing or a very bad thing, depending on how seriously you take the responsibility of being a role model as an older sibling.
Hannah is very different from me. All of my siblings have unique personalities, but Hannah and I probably differ the most. Christina, Ben and I all have very strong personalities, but Hannah has always been very chill. She was always go with the flow and just "whatever." I think the Lord knew my mom needed a child like that after dealing with myself, Ben, and Christina.
On this day, the day my baby sister official becomes an adult, I feel nostalgic.
I watched her grow up. I watched her change from the adorable little baby with super fine, blonde hair to the beautiful young woman that she is today. I watched her slowly inch toward my extreme stature of 5'2 1/2" and then pass it. I played duets with her when she was learning piano. I helped her with her dance moves when she took ballet. I let her borrow my Nancy Drew books as she became the voracious reader she still is. I got her tickets to see see The Little Mermaid on Broadway in New York City for her 13th birthday. I spent two weeks with her while she worked on support staff at White Sulphur Springs while I was on senior staff.
I think, perhaps, because Hannah and I are so different, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for her.
As I've said, Christina, Ben, and I all have very strong personalities. As such, the three of us have always clashed in some way for the majority of our lives (we're much better about it now than when we were kids though). But with Hannah, it was never like that.
She was very quiet as a child, and still is, to an extent. She's very sweet, very kind. It wasn't until my sister and I got older that her personality really popped up because we would always answer for her. She shares my love for Coke slurpees and Nancy Drew computer games and Disney (she's the only one that's come anywhere close to beating me in Disney Scene It!).
This fall, she'll head off to school. I'm sure my mom is having nostalgic moments, too, as she will now officially be an empty nester. But it's very strange when you realize that your baby sister is now an adult.
One of the stories about my interactions with Hannah that I will always remember happened when we lived in Georgia. Hannah was only about two-and-a-half-years-old. It was in the middle of the summer and we came home from some place. My mom held the car door open for Hannah, but she wanted to open it herself, so my mom left her to it.
A while later, I asked my mom if all of us kids could have a popsicle, since it was such a hot day. My mom said yes. I took popsicles to Ben and Christina, but when I looked around, I couldn't find Hannah. I searched all over the house and finally went to check outside. I walked over to the car and there she was, lying on the floor of the car, her face bright red, tears streaming down her face. I opened the door and got her out. She had wanted to open the door herself, but when my mom closed it, she couldn't do it. She'd kept trying but eventually gave up and started crying. I took her inside, my mom got her cooled down, and we gave her the popsicle.
That was a day in the middle of a Georgia summer. It was, at the very least, in the 90s. To this day, I'll never forget the relief I felt when I found her and the sinking feeling I got in my stomach when the reality of what could have happened hit me.
If I hadn't asked my mom for a popsicle on a random summer day, my baby sister might not be here. I would've never gotten to see her grow up. I would've never gotten to help her learn piano, lend her books, go on walks to get slurpees, or take her to see a Broadway show.
I'm so grateful that my baby sister is still here and I'm so proud of the woman that she's become. And I know that God is going to continue to do great things in and through her as she heads off to college.
Happy birthday, baby sister. I love you.
----------Photo Credit: ChristieMae Designs and Photography
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The post Happy Birthday, Baby Sister appeared first on Shades of Shayes.
