In 2006, Mom and I went to a scrapbooking class. This was Mom’s layout. The letters have taken a beating since then, but the pictures still tell the story of Emily’s 16th birthday.
It felt appropriate to take a picture of this “document” in Mom’s red chair because Emily’s first car was a fire-engine red Mazda protege, aptly named “Clifford.” This was the first day she got to drive me to school– February 20, 2002– and I was so thrilled. By this point the my sister, my friend thing began panning out and I was discovering that our being different was actually meant to be the source of our respect and admiration for each other– not the polarizing force it could be.
Now she’s 24 years old and brilliant as ever. A double major in chemistry/biology with a minor in psychology, she decided to take the MCAT with just a few weeks to spare in 2007– and passed! Now she is following in our Dad’s footsteps to become a pediatrician– only pressured by her desire to make a difference in the field we’ve watched our Dad impact, never a pressure imposed by Dad himself.
She is driven and thorough and has the curious mind of a diagnostician. She is practical and questioning and diligent. She gives other people the confidence that she sometimes forgets to have in herself. She likes to know how to best help and then do it to the utmost of her ability. She is mostly like Mom, but strongly favors Dad’s character, as well. Her heart is kindred with Moms, but she often thinks like Dad. Case in point– they enjoy doing puzzles together. Power to them. 
She writes sweet things like this on my facebook wall to encourage me:
you’re sleeping on my couch right now…and I’m thankful for you. Best friend/sister. Yin to my Yang (or did you want to be yang?) I love you so much and I love hearing or reading your perspective on life. You teach me something new all the time. I am so proud of you! I love you.
I wrote a super-long blog post about my feelings towards her a while back that goes into more detail about what I specifically admire about her, but suffice it to say this: I really used to always want to be more like Emily. For example, if I could substitute my passivity with her assertion, how much better a person would I be?
But with time I stand corrected. Knowing Emily doesn’t make me want be her, like a substitute; it makes me want to be a better me; a better complement. She makes it a point to appreciate my strengths as I work on the areas in which I am weak. It may sound cliche, but truly where I am weak, she is strong. I am so thankful for a sister with the patience to see the good in me as I follow 3 years behind her on the learning curve.
And I will forever treasure the days of pulling away from 4 Beeson Ct. for joyrides with her.
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