HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER!

Today is a very special day and I wanted to share it with all of you. It is the birthday of one of the nearest and dearest people to me in the whole wide world, my baby sister, Melissa. Melissa and I are only 19 months apart. I definitely look like the youngest, but she is, indeed, my younger sister. :0) LOL!

My only sister and I have shared so many things in our lives, a ton of very good things and a lot of really bad stuff, too. We have definitely not always gotten along; just ask our parents - or our husbands! Instead of being best buddies when we were little, we tended to 'fight like cats and dogs', as our Mama would always say. As we moved into our 'tween and teenage years, Melissa desperately wanted to follow me around wherever I went. She wanted to do everything my friends and I were doing but I wanted nothing to do with her! At least not when my friends were around. There was just enough age difference between us that it was simply 'not cool' to have her tagging along. Sometimes our parents made me take her and sometimes I got my way and she had to stay behind. So what do younger sisters do when they get left behind and want to get back at their big sisters? They tattle about every little thing! Yep, that is exactly what they do. They become snitches for the parents. However, I would not learn this until I became an adult. Melissa was a very good snitch, too! I always wondered how my parents found out every single time I did something I was not supposed to be doing!

Even as adults we have not always agreed and there have been many times we have not gotten along during certain circumstances. However, I have always, always known that she is there for me. I've never doubted that. Melissa and I both have been through some extremely major trials and tribulations as adults. We've both endured things some people can't even imagine and will never, ever deal with in their whole entire life. Despite all our differences, I have ALWAYS known she is in my corner. I know that no matter what, I can depend on her when the chips are down. She has always been here for my family and me through thick and thin. She has generously given of her self, her time, her money and anything else I have ever needed. She is THE very definition of a sister and a friend. I don't know what I would do without her in my life and I hope I never have to figure it out. She is part of the rock that is my family. We are close and we are solid. A lot of people don't have that but I am extremely blessed that I do.

Melissa, I hope that today is an amazing birthday for you and I pray that this next year is filled with nothing but joy, sunshine and wonderful blessings from the Lord above.

I love you, sis!

(This was the best picture I could find of us when we were little. I decided to do this at the last minute so I didn't have much time. This was us at our childhood church. I'm thinking this is probably on Easter Sunday, in dresses handmade by our Granny.)