On June 4th of this year, 2010, something profound happened.  I felt old. I felt old, and out of the loop. Why, you may ask yourself, why would this woman of only 35 29 feel old and out of the loop? I’ll tell you why. It’s because my sister, who is 10 years my junior, who is my BABY sister, got MARRIED. Married!! Can you believe it? I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it. I remember when she was born. I remember how I made her a pillow when she was born, she carried it around in the same hand she sucked her thumb on until she was about 8 (nah, just kidding, I think she was about 3). And you know what? She still has that godforsaken, drool infested, stained and torn and patched up pillow…. because her sister (that’d be me, in case you got lost) made it for her.

I remember when she started having seizures. I don’t remember how long it was before the doctors figured out it was seizures she was having, but it seemed like years that she was poked, and prodded, and had tests run, and couldn’t go on school field trips, or be left unsupervised,  until she finally had one in front of a nurse and they recognized it immediately as a seizure. I remember, she was 11 years old when she chose to wean herself off of the medication, and has never had a seizure since.

I remember she had beautifully thick hair (she still does, our whole family has some seriously thick hair) and she (translation: my mother) cut it all off, in about 1st grade. Some kids made fun of her at school one day, and she came home crying, they said her hair looked like a rat’s nest. I was so angry, so completely infuriated that my first instinct was to haul my cookies up to the school and snatch up a few 6 year olds and scare the everloving shit out of them for making my sister cry! Instead though, I got up early for school, every morning (which was a HUGE feat for me) to make sure her hair was brushed and fixed. I don’t think they made fun anymore. At least if they did, she never told me.

She also never got a spanking. Ever. My other sister and I – that’s a whole different story. But when it came to our baby sister, we just wouldn’t stand for it. No matter what it was, or how often we complained that she never got in trouble, she never got a spanking, she never got anything taken away… when it came right down to it, we had her back. If we had to, we’d take the blame for whatever it was. She was always safe. I guess I should mention here, that she also didn’t speak for the first few years of her life…. she didn’t have to. Her sisters always knew what she wanted, and we’d just get it for her. Our grandma used to get so upset with us and tell us “Make her ask for it. She’s never going to learn to speak!” But we were in the state of mind, where we thought “But why? She already grunted, and I know what it means, so I’ll just get/do it”. For years, round and round over everyone wanting her to speak, and us just wanting to give her what she wanted….. There have been times when I have felt that she gets a lot of things handed to her, things I’ve had to work for, but… I’ve never been jealous of that. Because she does work, hard… for her family, and for God.

My baby sister has traveled the world doing missionary work. She’s been to so many places, I can’t even remember them all but the list includes Haiti, Mongolia, oh… and lots more, that I really can’t remember. She has such a good & big heart, and always sees the best in people. Don’t get me wrong – she drives me up the wall sometimes, and we have our spats, but we get over them quite quickly and carry on. It’s a sister thing.

I’m so proud of her. Really,I am. You’d think just having gone through a divorce, I’d not be too keen on marriage, but I’ll tell you a little secret: I’m a hopeless romantic. And my sister, she found one of the good ones. I couldn’t imagine her with anyone else, they are so perfect together. He simply adores her. He’s nice, he’s funny, he fits in so incredibly well with our family. And, he loves my son. I think, they might be best friends… on some level. They hunt all the time in the backyard of my moms house with their BB guns. It’s sweet to see… he’s probably the most prominent male role in my son’s life right now, and for that, I’m forever grateful.

So, yeah… I now have a brother-in-law. And I couldn’t be happier about it! They have a lot they want to do and get in order before they start having children, but I’m ready for some babies!!!! Twins run on both sides of the family, so…. you know what I’ll be wishing for!

In other news, N is in summer camp right now, and he’s enjoying the hell out of it! It ends July 8, then he will be spending a few weeks with his dad…. which I will not enjoy, at all. It makes me want to come out of my skin. I’m not used to not being around my boy, and everytime he is gone I feel like I have no direction or purpose in life. I know, wah wah wah…. it’s just a fact, Jack.

Aside from that, because I’m not going to get all sappy on this Terrifically Terrible Tuesday… I got a new tattoo last night!! My 6th one. I’m movin on up like George & Weezy – haha. For the record, if you can’t see the obvious, I happen to adore tattoos. Yes, I will get more. Yes, I know they last forever. Yes, I’m okay with that.  Anyone who isn’t, I’d suggest they don’t get any tattoos… This is not a very good picture, it was awkward to try to take it because it’s right on the side of and under the outside of my left ankle… and I took the pic about 30 minutes after it was done. But, I love it. It has significant meaning to me, which I won’t go into either, because it involves dead babies, and who wants to talk about THAT on a Tuesday? Not me.

Oh, and P.S. – my feet are not dirty folks, that’s the ink. I promise! I know I’m from the dirty south, but I do have clean feet…. from time to time… but especially when getting one of them tattooed. Trust me. Ok? It’s Ink!

Related articles by Zemanta

• What’s it like to have a seizure? (ask.metafilter.com)
• Tattoo identification help (ask.metafilter.com)
• Prognosis Good for Most Children with Epilepsy (nlm.nih.gov)