Dear little sister

You should know by now that, on this your birthday, I'm going to raid your Flickr account and find the rare picture of you, and use it to illustrate your obligatory Happy Birthday post.

(You should also know that I spent a good time over at that Flickr account yesterday, scouting for a picture, and saw lots of Anna Marie photos that I didn't know existed. Good on ya.)

And, you should know that our relationship makes me kind of sad that Anna Marie doesn't have a kid sister for when she grows up. Notice I said "for when she grows up," because I don't think anyone would want her to have a kid sister now whom she could potentially treat like I treated you when we were kids.

You should know that I'm really proud of you, for all the "big things" you've done in your life - going to England alone, seeking out a VW when that was the car you really wanted (and who knew it would later save your life?), moving in with that frat house full of boys, and now, taking on a ministry position.

Some people might say that you haven't accomplished much in your 28 years. Those people would be wrong. Those people (and I think we both know of whom I speak) need to learn to look past their own limited view of what life is, and what it can be.

I'm proud that you recently told me that you were "super content" right now. That means more to me, I guess, because I know that "right now" is a transitional time for you, and that things are a wee bit difficult, but you're content anyway.

That's awesome. And it makes me a little jealous.

You should know that you're the best Aunt Manda ever (and I should know, because my kid currently has three of them. If we could convince Becky to change her name before she marries Jonathan, we'd be four for four.)

(And yes, Jason has four brothers, but they're all currently married to women not named Amanda, and have been for a while. So I guess Jonathan is our last hope.)

You should know that any "hipness" I lay claim to probably came at your hand - Catherine Tate, David Tennant, Ricky Gervais - all were introduced to me by you.

(Well, not literally, but how awesome would it be to meet them? All of them in the same room, even? I can barely stand the thought of it.)

Happy Birthday, Amanda. You are teh awsim.

* You should probably also know that I expect full payment for all the nice stuff I said in this post, preferably in the form of baked goods.