The third day of Christmas...
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Three is a number that appears quite often in my life. I'm the third child. I have three pets. I have three kinds of dictionary. I have 3 million favorite songs. ;) Of all those three, my favorite are my siblings. I have two older siblings, one of each. My brother is the middle and my sister is the oldest. They both have kids (bro has 4 boys and sis has 2 girls and a boy) and are married. They're also both big parts of my life.
My brother and sister are 9 and 10 years older than me, respectively, so when I was little, they were old enough to take me places and do things with me that most siblings who are born close together can't do. My sister often took me to soccer practice. My brother practiced his soccer moves on me. My sister taught me how to peg my jeans (although she'll probably deny it now) and my brother taught me to love 80s music. My sister gave me courage and my brother protected me. My sister and brother were a team. Yeah, they fought with each other. Yeah, I fought with them. But never once did I ever doubt how much they loved me. When I had a nightmare as a child, I climbed in bed with one of them and went right back to sleep knowing I was safe. When I talked in my sleep my sister told me to shut up and go back to sleep. When I needed someone to be there for me, I knew they were there.
Since we're so much apart in age, there came a time in my life when they moved on. They went off to college and working life and I stayed behind with mom and dad. But never once did I think they forgot me. I still have some of the notes my sister sent me when she was in college. Let me tell you, when I was in college, writing my little sister would be the least thing on my mind so that tells you how important I was to her. She drew pictures and wrote notes and I cherished every one. I got to visit her when she was in school sometimes and never once did I feel like I was a burden - she was always excited to see me and spend time with me. Now, she's the most amazing mom in the world. My nieces and nephew are so. stinking. lucky. She's a 3rd grade teacher and those kids are super lucky too. My sister has the creative mind of a genius. She has ways of teaching kids things that are fun and get the point across. This year I went and helped her out with pumpkin math and science day. Most fun day of my year! But most of all, I'm lucky that I have a sister, friend, confidant, and wonderful woman in my life.
My brother went off and toured the world for a while. He lived in the UK for a bit, NYC, California, and goodness knows where else ;). But he always came home to visit and brought me a t-shirt (I actually have a World Trade Center t-shirt that has the twin towers on it - crazy, huh?) or other trinket representing his recent travels. He never forgot his baby sister. He called to check on me. He asked how I was doing. He helped me with my economics when I was in high school and college and got befuddled. My brother was my hero as a kid and he still is today. He now lives on the other side of the country with his wife and their 4 boys and I miss him so very much, but I know that he's there and just a phone call away. Those boys are so lucky to have him for a dad because he is so smart, funny, creative, and caring. But best of all, this year (2012) I get the best birthday present ever: I get to see him on my birthday because I'll be in Cali and he's driving down to see me before I go build houses in Mexico again. I'm so lucky that I have a wonderful brother to look up to, be protected by, and have as a friend.
So, on this third day of Christmas, I'm thankful for being the third child. I'm thankful for being the little sister of these two wonderful people. I'm so thankful that I have such love in my life.
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