Day 4 (and every other day for the rest of forever): little sister

Okay, so I try not to make a lot of posts these days about my friends or family who I just think are "the best ever!", because those get old and you guys generally don't really want to read any of those. A birthday post or two are okay, but what I'm about to do is strictly against my rules these days (it's not even her birthday!). But I can't help it. If I'm going to be posting this month about the things I'm the very most thankful for in my life, I would be absolutely remiss (most used word in testimony meetings ever) if I didn't write about her at least ten times. Which I won't do. But this once I have to.

Because she's my little sister, and a better little sister I could not possibly imagine.

If you don't know this girl, you want to. Trust me.

I could go on for hours about how she is a kind and caring friend, even when her friends aren't the greatest friends to her all the time in return. I get all protective and want to smack those girls (and boys!) around, tell 'em who's the cool one. But I can't. She'd probably kill me. And she's beautiful: this tall blonde, legs that go on forever (like barbie), and so full of spunk and sass that she could knock any full grown man off balance.

The picture is from last Thanksgiving up in Park City (it's a theme, I tell ya). We went ice skating on an outdoor rink twice, slept in this beautiful four-poster bed (I believe #foreveralone is appropriate here), and enjoyed some middle-of-the-night skinny dipping in the hot tub right outside our door. Lots of movies were watched together, lots of food was eaten together, and lots of fun was had. It was a blast from the past kind of week, reminiscing those years we shared a room back at home, except we didn't fight nearly as much that week as in those previous years. That happens after you live about a thousand miles away for too long. You miss a person. You start to really appreciate a person. For that I am thankful, because that little sister of mine deserves to be appreciated every minute and every second of every day.

You know how they (who the heck are "they"?) say not to regret anything? I think that's a bunch of bull sh... crap. I think it's fair to regret things, because you get to learn how to change those things so you have fewer regrets in the future. It gives you time to understand yourself and where you can make things up, especially when it comes to relationships. So here's a little piece of me to open up to my avid readers (that's you, mom): I regret every day I didn't let every single one of my family members know I love them SO MUCH. Because I do. I suppose there's something about losing a dad to cancer when you're still a little girl that teaches you a lesson about that one. And this little sister? I regret every picture I haven't taken with her, and every phone call I haven't made to her since I've been away, and every minute I've not given her my full attention when she's asked for it, because that's when she really needed it. So I guess this is me saying that I'm going to try to be better, because that girl is all sorts of awesome, and I don't want to miss out on her life (one of the sad things about being so far away).

Have I written too much already? And have I gotten too personal and gushy like I told myself I wouldn't? Of course I have. I'll wrap it up here in a minute, I promise. But keep reading, reader, because this isn't about me this time.

She's right smack dab in the middle of that critical time in a teenager's life when they're trying to figure out where to go to school, who their friends really are, what life is all about (not that that one ever gets figured out), the great mysterious boys, siblings aren't really all that annoying, and mom actually is kind of cool (okay, so maybe that comes later). She's on the look out for something to be passionate about, and she's trying to be a good person. She fights for right, that one does. I can't tell you - and yes I would tell you even if you were a stranger on a bus - how brilliantly she is doing. She has a strength about her that has allowed her to handle some of the tougher situations that come along. And she knows where improvement is needed, which says something about her humility and desire to be better. But I think she doesn't realize that she's doing better than she thinks. So let me just end this much by saying this: I have so many reasons to be this proud of her. And love? Always and forever.

So there. I am thankful for my little sister, with the beautiful palindrome name of Hannah.