happy birthday, becca...

i have an amazing little sister...beautiful in every way, inside and out...honest and giving to anyone lucky enough to know you. i was almost six when you were born, excited as can be to get you out of all the silly blankets they brought you home in. we had a fairly typical big sister-little sister relationship growing up...but, i am honored to say that the memories we are making now are the ones i truly cherish.  you have seen me in moments others haven't, known the words...or the silence...i've needed each time. never judging, always simply loving...everything i've ever needed you to be.  you are the mother of the most amazing little boy...and have given our family the gift of an incredible man who means the world to m and i.

you are stronger than many people may know...putting your grief and fear aside during the hardest moments of your life...showing true selflessness and grace as only you could.  you are her...or many of the very best parts of her anyway...we each carry pieces of her within us, but as time goes by, it's easy to see how very much of her you hold. 

it's funny, i have so many memories that keep bouncing around in my head and as i start to type them, they seem almost too intimate to put into words...yet safely shared between you and i.  maybe that's okay...maybe that's how some things are meant to be. 

    To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. - Clara Ortega

happiest of happy birthdays, becca...i hope everyone else sees you as i do...and can appreciate everything you are, everything you do, everything you were without a doubt put here to do.  chances are good you have no idea how much i love you, or the impact you have on my life.  both are greater than i'm certain you can imagine.  thank you for the ways you touch my life, touch m's life.  here's to an amazing year of you and i hope within it you find every bit of joy you possibly can!