Saturday, May 06, 2006

my cherie

yesterday i got the sweetest card in the mail. it was addressed to josh and i from my little sister, cherie. i tore off the envelope, then opened the card. what i saw made me start to laugh uncontrolably; the card was completely empty. void of any words whatsover. i thought that this was the funniest thing i had seen in a long time. so i picked up the phone and called my sister who, after locating the card that she MEANT to send, started giggling right along with me. apparently, there had been an issue with finding the right size of envelope, and in all the confusion, a blank card was sealed and sent away to us, rather than the very sweet one that she had taken the time to write to us. i had her read it over the phone so both josh and i could hear what she had meant to say. i also thanked her for sending such a thoughtful item...a card that we could recycle by using again!

my little sister was born on may 28th 1986. i remember that year because it was the year of Expo 86, and also the year that i won 2 blue ribbons at my kindergarten sports day. the very same day that i won those blue ribbons, my brothers and i were taken to the hospital to visit our mom and brand new baby sister. i remember being thrilled when she came home to realize that she was small enough to fit into my cabbage patch doll's clothes. before long, she had grown like a slender weed with curly blonde hair down to her miniature waist. we all adored her and spoiled her and cuddled her. after all, she was the baby. when my mom got the job of working at our school library, she would bring cherie, who was still too young for school, with her to work. at recess my little sister would come running to me from across the playground, hair ribbons flying. i was so proud to have the cute little sister that all of my friends cooed over. and, of course, cherie LOVED all of the attention.

since cherie and i were the only 2 girls in the family, we grew up sharing everything, from bedrooms to sleeping bags to hair straighteners. we had bunk beds and, of course, i had the top bunk. pretty soon she stopped being so adorable to me and began to be quite the annoying little sister. for starters, she snored rather loudly for a child her size. also, she and her friends would walk into our room whenever they felt like it, leaving me NO PRIVACY! when i started dating at age 16, cherie and my brother would spy on me from the window upstairs, watching us kiss by the front door.

then my older brother got married and cherie and i were able to have our own rooms and began getting along quite a bit better. when she made the decision to leave her tiny school after gr. 9 and begin attending MEI, just like i did, i was full of protective, older sister advice: "don' be shy; be outgoing and make friends right away. otherwise people will mistaken your shyness for snobbiness and you will be miserable" i told her, fearing that she would end up in the same boat as i did in my final, nearly friendless years of highschool. it was that year that i realized that even though we had shared the same roof and room for almost our entire lives, and even though we have identical smiles, cherie and i are nothing alike. right from the start, she began bringing friends home from school. not just A friend, but friends! by the time her 16th birthday party rolled around, she had made so many friends that she couldn't decide who to invite, so she just gave up and invited them all. there were something like 30 kids hanging out at our house that day! not only did i finally realize that we were nothing alike, i also realized that i could probably learn a lot from her.

cherie is what you would call a "people person". she is the life of the party wherever she goes, always giggling, full of stories, asking questions. people are drawn to her like a moth to a flame. far from being a snob, she is friendly to EVERYONE, never caring about who may not be deemed socially acceptable. she wears her heart on her sleeve and can be easily wounded, but is quick to bounce back and join the party again. oh yes, and she LOVES to talk. the 3 days that we spent with her in scotland contained probably about 10 minutes of silence for the ENTIRE time she was in our presence. "oh, well when we were in morocco.." or "the way they would do things in spain" or "once, when this homeless man walked up to me.." she has a never ending fountain of interesting tidbits to share whenever there is a spare moment of silence to take advantage of. she is a joy to my heart, full of life and love. never change, sis. i love you just the way you are.

11 comments:

L&D said...

Very sweet tribute to your sister. So cool to watch you guys grow up and develop a friendship.

Anonymous said...

Oh Heidi, you have me crying this morning, but they are good tears. It does a mom's heart good to read a tribute like that - yes, you are both very different in some ways, but wow, I am so proud of both of you. Thank you for that post, can hardly wait until Cherie gets home from the island (today) to read it. Bless you, Mom

Nicci said...

That is such a sweet tribute to little Cherie. Wow has she ever grown up. Last time I saw her she was like 9 or 10 years old. Crazy? Beautiful girls you are.

Meredith said...

That is so sweet...If only I could write about my sisters so sweetly. Somehow I just don't remember that way...oh well.

Shannon said...

awwwwwe. *sniff*

I hope my girls love each other. (even if they do have those few growing up years of war between)

Alvin & Denise Engler said...

Heidi, you are such a good big sister. Cherie is such a lucky girl -- I bet she's holding her head a little higher and smiling a little brighter as a result of such a pure and bright sisterly love.
-de

Unknown said...

You had me crying this morning, this is such a sweet blog. I wish I could express things the way you do to the people that I love, you have a gift with words and an amazing memory.

Cherie said...

heidi i love you! that was so sweet of you to say all that:) it made me cry:) *shy smile* it made me feel good:)
I didnt know I snored!!! ack! I do remember the days jamie and I would watch out the window, and definitly remember get kicked (physically) out of MY room! haha
but i wouldnt be the same without your amazing advice throughout the years... especially the night you told me...
"cherie one day all those milkshakes you are eating at night are going to go straight to your hips"
sisterly love in the best of times! But you definitly gave me amazing advice about dating. That helped me alot.
I love you sis. im so blessed to have you as my older sister.
cheers my dear!
cherie

Talk of the Town said...

Oh, Heidi, you have such a wonderful way with words. They come straight from your big heart. I remember when Cheri was just your littele sister - then I started talking to her, and thought of her as a friend too. watching movies together, chatting, etc. She is such a sweetheart. Ooooooooooo, how I wish she would marry my brother.

Tammy said...

Heidi, I just wanted to leave my first comment to say how much I love your blog...(boy, do I wish I had a sister!) You're so sweet.
Tammy :)

Anonymous said...

what a awesome compliment to your little sis....
and you little blue ribbon winning STUD!!!