**disclaimer: i contemplated making this really heartfelt but didn't want it to take away from my maid of honor speech when you get married or whatever.**
hey kid.
you’re twenty-one years old.
dude. twenty-one years ago you became my best friend, and
worst enemy.
twenty-one years ago, mom and dad brought you home from the hospital. they allowed me to pull a band-aid off your leg underneath the coffee
table on the gross green/blue plush carpet of 5581 balsam court. i probably
thought i was super cool. looking back, that’s super weird.
you are the reason we never had fun babysitters—you just
screamed all the time. and when you weren’t screaming, you were biting chunks
of my skin off and leaving an imprint on my shoulder blades #casual
you are the reason my barbie’s shoes went missing. you are
the reason my toys broke. you are the reason my clothes disappeared. you are
the reason for several of my tears and temper tantrums. you and your midnight
snacking are the reasons all the good snacks for lunch went missing in the
pantry.
you are the reason why i miss living in wisconsin. you are
the reason for many of my smiles and happy memories. you dry my tears when i
call you crying and you have just the right words. you are the reason i became
addicted to the sims 2. you are (probably) the reason putter is still alive.
you are the reason why i have a relationship with Christ.
you are a beautiful human being and i am so thankful that
you exited our mother’s womb twenty-one years ago. my life would be pretty
bland without you. who would send me texts saying that the cat walked all over
her with diarrhea on its paws? who would blackmail me? who would i stay up with
all night long during summers at grandma’s cabin? who would i wake up to in the
middle of the night cracking my toes? 
did you ever imagine yourself getting married to your (male)
best friend at twenty-one years old? did you think that by the time you were
twenty-one, you would be in cosmetology school? or that you would have impacted
so many people?
you are incredible. i am honored to be your biological
sister and sister in christ. you have a soul full of light and a heart full of
compassion. may your day be filled with all things lovely. i look forward to
(legally) drinking a glass of wine with you over christmas and listening to you critique my split ends.
stay beautiful. i wish we were sisters.
from the womb to the tomb,
<3 yaya
