My Baby Sister

My baby sister was born at 11:44 pm on September 29, 1993. I had been awake for two days straight and had eaten nothing but cheese-peanut butter crackers, but I'll never forget how excited I was when the doctor handed her to me. She was the cutest little cone-headed baby I'd ever seen. I already adored her like she was my own daughter, which is saying something for a 9-year-old. 

Growing up, we joked that I was the scab mom. I'm pretty sure my sister grew up thinking she had two moms, a big one and a little one. She looked so much like me that when I was in high school and we'd go places together, I'd hear hushed comments about how sad it was to see such a young mother. We thought that was absolutely hilarious.

Over the years I've worked with a lot of little kids, but I haven't even found anyone who comes close to being as cool as my baby sister was. When she was around, I always had someone to talk to, and most of the time she'd say things that were either as intelligent as people my own age or totally hilarious in the level of little kid logic. Of course a cat would be called a diddle. Why else would the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle" make any sense? And Woody and Buzz Lightyear didn't get along, so when Woody called Buzz a genius, of course that was an insult. That's just logical.

My sister knew the entire 1996 Atlanta Braves roster, and she'd sit and watch the games with me and beg me to quiz her on the players. Her favorites were Michael Tucker and Tony Graffanino. She had invisible friends named Helga and Tilda and Rachel, who sometimes went by Sally. She was far too smart to really believe they existed, but it was way more fun to pretend. She also had an extensive stuffed animal collection that included Samantha Sheep, Circle the bear, and Flucky...does it really matter what Flucky was? Its name was Flucky.

I still know all the words to The Lion King and Toy Story, and I still love the TV show Rugrats. I remember seeing the Rugrats movie in the theater when my sister was really little, and during the scene where Tommy is holding his baby brother Dill and singing him a lullaby, she climbed over onto my lap and snuggled in, which was enough to make even a tough kid like me tear up.

I stayed in Madison for college so I could be closer to my sister, but of course, it wasn't the same when I moved away. We still hung out, and I still loved her way more than a normal sibling relationship, but I didn't get to see her nearly as much as I would have liked. I guess that's what happens when people grow up.

When she was little I was always the kickass older sister who could do no wrong. I still have the picture she drew of me when she was about 5 and the teacher asked them to draw their hero. She's always been my baby sister and is the closest I'll ever get to having a daughter, and now I'm really looking forward to her being my best friend as well.

Happy 18th birthday, Boozle.