happy birthday, baby sister

twenty-seven years ago today, my mom gave birth to my little sister, jessica. for many years now, people could hardly guess that we are seven years apart, as jess has a pretty mature disposition and gets along with my friends easily.

my memories of jess as a baby are faint, but i do recall sharing a room with her when she was a newborn and i was about 7-8 years old. apparently she would wake up crying multiple times each night and my parents would rush into our bedroom, but i slept like the dead. never heard it once!

there are other memories as well, but a few of my favorites which stand out:

• when jess was still crawling and learning to walk, the four of us would sit at the dining table for dinner while she rolled around the dining area in her walker. because there is a step between our dining and living room, we would usually line the floor where the step was with couch pillows just in case she were to head in that direction. one night while we were busy digging into dinner, i remember we heard a "plunk"! we looked in the direction of the noise, and jess had rolled herself over the step and onto the pillows. we quickly ran over to pick her up. lol.
• when jess was 2-3 years old, my dad drove us three kids to a mcdonald's somewhere in new jersey to meet my mom, who was rehearsing all day for a choir concert that evening. i believe we were meeting her to drive up to the concert together or something. my dad had taken the opportunity to give jess a haircut that day, and surprise my mom with his handywork. i think my mom was a little stunned, as were the rest of us, because my sister's hair had actually been cut with a bowl on top of her head, and it showed. lol.
• when jess was starting high school, she took the train up and stayed with me in the city for a weekend in my first rental apartment on 30th street. i remember bringing her to serendipity for the cold hot chocolate, and taking her on the subways and just hanging out in the city. she had glasses and braces back then :)
• during the spring of her junior year at nyu, i moved back from tokyo and we moved into a large west village elevator apartment together. it was a pretty large apartment with lofty ceilings, and we shared the bedroom, and still had room to spare. we shared a lot of good memories during that year, and i think it was that experience which really brought us closer to where we are today.

back when i was young, i had no idea what my parents meant when they told us "one day you will become best friends with your siblings and thank us for it". each day, however, it becomes clearer and clearer. so today, in addition to wishing my sister the happiest of birthdays, i also thanked my parents for giving and raising a wonderful daughter who i can call my best friend.

and another piece of great news ~~ my SIL, carlin, gave birth to her second daughter, lina mae cheng, this morning in los angeles! so i now have two wonderful ladies in my life who share this wonderful day.

feeling extremely humbled and blessed today.