the last of my siblings’ birthdays is that of my younger sister. it’s the only one that falls on a blog posting day, so the baby sister E gets a full post to herself. how very last child of her. :) i’ll refrain from singing because that would blow out your ear drums, shatter the glass windows, and cause a volcano to erupt somewhere far from here. i don’t want to do that to you or to her as she turns 19.
when i turned 19, there were parades and parties and a prince that popped out of a fudge cake. that didn’t happen when you turned 19? what did?
in real life, when i turned 19, the year was 2000. a new millennium for my last year of being a teenager. there weren’t any hoverboards ala back to the future, but i was hovering on the edge of independence. i was starting my second semester in college, so i was over the scariness of leaving home and enjoying the perks of collegiate life. i knew people. i was invited to parties now, i didn’t just crash them. lacrosse season was about to hit its stride. i took my first creative writing class. the words were stilted and awkward, much like me. i started to understand exactly how awesome my parents were. the friendships i’d tentatively formed first semester solidified. i left campus mid week. i took snowboarding lessons on a mountain in virginia, which is truly only a big hill. simply stated, the swan song of my teenage years was sweet, tough, uplifting, silly, serious, awesome, and surprising. i was turning into an adult with each class, practice, decision, game, lesson, and party.
i wish for the same things for sister E, but in ways the delight and surprise and sparkle and are coordinated just for her. she may have surpassed me in height, but she’ll always be my kid sister.
happy last year of your teens, E. go get ’em.