A day late..

But late is better than never. Yesterday this gorgeous girl. My wonderful sister turned twelve. And this is the first year I have not been there to help her celebrate it. I miss you Sissy!
When I was a little girl I begged my Mom daily for a baby, preferably a baby sister. And then when I was in second grade I was talking to someone who told me their Mom was 28, and my Mom was 40. I talked to my Mom about this and decided that it was okay for her to not have any more babies, and I quit begging for one. Then near the end of my Sophomore year of High School while sitting on my brothers bedroom floor my Mom broke the news that she was pregnant. *SHOCK* I was like sure Mom.. me too.. yeah right. I mean Mom was weeks away from her 48th Birthday.. no way was my Mom pregnant. But she was. And my brother and I giggled and whispered about it all day.. total shock and unbelief. The summer came and my Mom found out she was having a girl. A baby sister. I was thrilled. And then there was more news. They were sure she had hydrocephalus. And more. My Mom had many ultra sounds, met with many doctors, and the final ruling from the doctors was that at best she would have down syndrome, but most likely she would live for a few minutes and die. It was heart breaking for us. But we had faith. And I hadn't waited this long for my baby sister to only have her a few minutes. Her heart had problems, but we knew that doctors can fix hearts, and well.. we can handle it. They did it with me, and we could do it again. The doctors tried to convince my Mom to abort her as late as 7 months along. It was wrong on so many levels.
Twelve years ago yesterday I went to the hospital with my parents and we waited. I went to lunch with two friends from school and came back and then my Mom set the record in the hospital for being the oldest woman to have a c-section in the hospital. Great record Mom, 48 is quite a feat! And my sister had to have oxygen when she was born, but not when I was in the room with her, or my Mom or Dad. My sister and I had a bond instantly. And the doctors told us she did have down syndrome. And I looked at my beautiful sister and thought, well she is so pretty maybe all my kids will have down syndrome one day. :) All I saw was the sister I wished for. The sister I prayed for. The sister I knew was supposed to be my sister. I saw the sweetest girl in the world. The girl who would teach us all what matters. The girl who would change us all for the better. The girl who I miss like my own daughter who is 2300 miles away from me right now. The girl my kids love. The girl who is my favorite sister. The girl who has helped others to soften. The girl who has over 45 barbies. The girl who is my Sissy. The girl I love.
My sweet sister. I wish you a wonderful birthday. How blessed am I to have a girl like you to be my little sister. I feel honored to have you as my sister. You will never know how truly blessed I am because of you. Happy Birthday Princess. I wish I was there to celebrate with you. I love you.