Happy Birthday, Margie!

Here's a picture of my sister, the Birthday Girl a "few" years ago, and a picture of her at her daughters wedding last November. Not only is she beautiful, but she is fun, loyal, extremely kind-hearted, sweet, patient, hard-working, brave, smart, talented, believes the best about everyone, is a wonderful Mother, a daughter who takes incredible care of our Mom, and almost never made fun of me when I was growing up. There was that "Shamu, the killer whale" comment, but that's about it. She is also the only person on Earth that knows I am telling the truth about flying like Mary Poppins with my umbrella to school one day a long time ago when I was much, much lighter.

She was the person who knew me best while we were growing up and always was encouraging and supportive. We shared a room, sometimes co-operatively, sometimes not. She likes to sleep with the window cracked open even in winter, even if it meant I had to take a blow dryer to it early in the morning to close it because it froze open. She never used to match her socks, and hated her hair in high school. She never had homework and got good grades, which at the time was very annoying. She has a made a home that is warm and inviting, and always makes a person feel welcomed and valued. She is 364 days older than me and I always loved being the same age as her for one day per year. She reads the last chapter of a book first, which makes me crazy, but suits her just fine. I miss being able to share birthday cake with her. If you are ever blessed to know a person this special remember to tell them how much you love them.

So Margie, I love and appreciate you very much. I can't imagine how my life would have been without you, but I know it would not have been as rich and wonderful. I am so glad to be your sister. I wish for you always all of the very best life has to offer.