A photo essay love letter to my sister upon the occasion of her 27th birthday

Today I was at the chiropractor, and he asked me if I had any special plans for the weekend.

"It's my sister's birthday, so we're having a party," I said.

"How old is she turning?" he asked.

"Uh..." thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking WHAT?! it can't be!!! "...27."

So here's to 27 years of -
beauty
struggle
stealing the blanket
sneaking into my bed
throwing up on me
holding my hand
going to coffee
walking your baby, my dog
licking suika ice
pulling out ingrown hairs
playing Stratego
shopping downtown
wearing matching outfits
mending my clothes
inspiring me
eating beignets and olie bollen
switching opinions on whipped cream
fighting over a hairbrush
threatening to open the bathroom door
sending hints of desperation
building an igloo
reading stories in bed
tagging along
crying at each other's weddings
(reading the same poem)
plucking each other's eyebrows
holding steady
holding tight
- here's to 27 years of love

Here's my "in this moment, I swear we are infinite" photo, although a) you still need to read the book and watch the movie! (just reading this inspires me to do both again in one night; my love affair may never end), and b) we need to continue these moments as we age (I don't mean to imply they only happen to teenagers).

At Universal Studios, after we went with Grandma and she got all soaking wet.

Because I stumbled across this, and it demanded to be seen again

All those years of coordinating outfits

To our perfected sleeping-in-cramped-spaces position, and all the times of annoyance and bonding that created this method and flowed from it

Hoshiiiii

This photo has so many reasons. 1) Our fabulous hair. 2) In the comments, Mom is shocked to discover I ever had bangs. 3) Dad's eternal Pepsi flavor quest. 4) Selfie wins.

I'm still holding out on making a horror movie together.

Because WHY?! Why did we take this photo? To highlight a candy? To all the entertainment we got from photographing ourselves. And this is the same day I found toilet paper under your tights! Good memories.

Mouth of Sauron

Sugar love

I know these photos aren't all the most beautiful. They aren't the ones you adorn your walls with. But they are the moments that capture for me a lifetime ahead and a lifetime behind of my best friend and sister. Because all the moments weren't perfect (and not perfect moments are a lot worse than a little drool or squinting eyes), but we got through them together. I love you, dearest Caitlin.