Annie Alice

My sister is the first person I am writing about in my blog. I think I picked her first because she is always on my mind. She lives in Austin, Texas with her son-cat Audi. She loves him so much that she pays astronomical vet bills to keep him healthy and lets him get his cat fur all over her cute clothes.

Annie and I are about as opposite as winter is long. She is artistic. My idea of being creative is trying a new restaurant. Annie is athletic. I have nearly all participation ribbons from my track and field days. Annie is musically cultured. Coldplay and country are nearly all I listen to. Annie has a perfect JLo butt… I have chicken legs and a flat butt.

Our relationship hasn’t always been as loving as it is now. As children, I would pinch her cheeks when I got mad and then bribe or threaten her not to tell mom. She really ticked me off when she would steal my days-of-the-week underwear, especially when I would find it in her dirty clothes pile.

There have been many highlights… like the stellar human videos we would perform for my grandparents at Christmas time along with dances to Amy Grant songs. When I was in 4^th grade, our family moved downtown to 32^nd St and Annie and I had our own bedrooms for the first time. I would always beg her to sleep with me. She sometimes gave in. We didn’t let the distance of separate rooms keep us apart, we devised a knocking code with a specific repetition of knocks meaning a certain message. For instance, 3 knocks meant, “I love you.” Five knocks meant “I’m sorry,” (I used five knocks a lot). To also cope with our separation, we put a shoebox in our bathroom that served as a mailbox. We left notes to each other frequently and sometimes even gum. We called ourselves the ‘sending sisters.’ I loved having a sister.

What is remarkable about Annie is that she has a magical quality that draws people in. She is a freethinker and has a wild heart. Annie feels deeply and cares about those she loves deeply. We have the kind of sisterhood where we can go days or even weeks without a long conversation and then pick right back up where we left off. I think about her all the time. I care about what she cares about. I want to take every pain or potential threat and use my own body and heart to shield her from it.

Annie is an incredibly gifted dancer- I’m not just saying that. You can feel the emotion in her movements, the passion in her heart. When I watch Annie dance, I feel like the world is right. Our grandma Alice loved watching Annie dance. Annie loved grandma Alice. Grandma Alice loved Annie. I sometimes think, “wouldn’t Grandma be so proud of Annie? She would probably find a way to get Annie on a reality dance competition.”

That’s the other thing about Annie. She is incredibly loved. She has a family that adores her. One family dinner cannot go by without someone saying, “I wish Annie was here.” Annie completes the family. She is our treasure and brings so much color our world. Annie Alice, I love you.