So I've written a lot about me in this blog, and I've written about each of my parents but I've never really written about my sister. So Boli, this one is for you.
When I was four, I begged and pleaded with my mom for a little brother. And being the spoiled only-child that I was, my mother humbly obliged. Almost. When mom told me there was going to be a baby coming, I was so incredibly stoked. The doctors told my parents it was going to be a little boy, and we proceeded to search for lots of blue baby items. So right on my fifth birthday, we got a new bundle of joy: a little squirt named Kimberly Rachel. There went my hopes of a brother.
Mom and Dad brought her home from the hospital, and everyone oohed and aahed over the new addition. So tiny and cute and special... I took one look at her and decided that I hated her.
My sister's name is Kimberly, but when she was little, she couldn't say it properly due to a speech impediment. Thus, she pronounced her name Kim-bo-lee. Being the decietful and malevolent older sister, I took to making fun of her and just called her "Boli." (Who would have known that name would stick?)
Having been an only child for five years, I had no idea how to share. She was my first taste of jealousy. She took everyone's attention. I now had to share the spotlight, share my bathroom, share my spare blankie, share my parents... even share my birthday. From then on, I made it my personal life mission to make her life a living hell.
I dared her to eat a flower (it was an azalea. I wonder if they're poisonous?) I jumped up and down and demanded more attention from our parents. I fed her cat food (yes, I know. It was cruel.) I wouldn't let her touch my Barbies and wouldn't let her play with my friends because she was "too little." As we got older I resented her for being the "pretty sister" and the "popular one" as I was the nerdy and awkward one. I tattled on her for every little thing she did wrong and hogged the tub at bath time.
Boli is the cool sister. The one with dark hair, long eyelashes, and pretty skin. The one who doesn't care what anyone thinks, with tattoos and a fashionable wardrobe. The one with a thousand friends and even more men in love with her. I was the cautious one, with my nose stuck in a book, deathly afraid of making a mistake in life. She was social, I was intellectual. She is petite and thin and I am tall and athletic. We couldn't have looked more different or had more different personalities. People don't believe us when we tell them we're related.
But now, as we have grown up and are adults now, my perspective has changed. My mom always warned me not to be ugly to my sister, because one day she would be my best friend. I didn't believe her. But she was right, as mothers always are.
A year and a half ago, my sister called me, having recently graduated high school, and asked if she could move from Atlanta to Charlotte to stay with me in my house for a couple of weeks. I was surprised, because we weren't close like that. But I had an empty guest bedroom and didn't mind if she wanted to get away for a bit. She ended up coming to visit... and stayed. And somehow, the person I felt like was the polar opposite of me, ended up being more similar that I could have ever imagined.
I taught her how to rock climb and took her snowboarding for the first time. She introduced me to music I now love, like Paramore, Flyleaf, and Christina Perri. We decided to learn German together and both are getting better at playing the piano. She packed up my entire life and moved me out of a destructive marriage, and I helped her heal from the biggest heartbreak she's ever experienced. We go for runs together, eat ice cream together, and even have matching tattoos. Our Christmas tree is covered in ornaments we gave each other as children that say "#1 sister, 1993" that we didn't mean at the time but are special to us now. She had me read Twilight and Chuck Pahlanuk(whatever his name is) books. I had her read Dante's Inferno and Virgil's The AEnid.
Kimberly starts nursing school in January and I couldn't be more proud of her. She's a badass rock climber and fearless snowboarder and has more musical talent than she realizes. She turns heads everywhere we go and I will valiantly fight off the skeezes for her. She has an uncanny ability to decipher someone's character and has been able to see things in others that I never could.
Boli, you've come a long way and gone through a lot, and you've taught me a lot in the process. Thank you for everything. I am sorry I tried to ruin your life for 18 years. Guess that's what siblings are for. :)
So, HERE'S TO: velociraptor toes; cars that have a "back-in-back"; to Harriet the Spy and the Spice Girls; to Mariah Carey and Amy Grant Christmas songs; Riverdancing in the living room, hair extensions, and Sex and the City quotes; to actually hitting the high note in Phantom of the Opera; to fighting over who gets to marry Josh Groban; to moving to Denver, Deutschland, or Dubai; to finding our Prince Charmings who think we are as much like Aurora and Jasmine as we do; to trying to ski as sexy as Mom; to The Nightmare before Christmas and Pride and Prejudice; to the Walrus, the Carpenter, and turning life into an episode of Glee.
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