Love Thursday: Sister Sue

I consider it a great blessing, or stroke of luck, or credit to my parents, or all of the above, that my brother and sister and I get along very well and enjoy each other's company. I mentioned this in my 100 things (in the top 10, no less) but I thought Love Thursday merited a little more detail. So I'll talk about my sister this week (ladies first) and my brother next.

She is four years younger than me and at a totally different place in her life--she's single, no kids, and just finished getting her second bachelor's degree because she finally found a career that's perfect for her (horticulture and gardening ... I, on the other hand, have not one single plant in my house because I can't keep them alive). She's lived in the San Francisco Bay area for many years, but just moved cross-country for a year-long internship at a prestigious botanical garden. She's a vegetarian, driver of a biodiesel-powered Volkswagen, and an avid environmentalist. She can knit (and has made lovely hats and sweaters for my kids). We have pretty much none of the above in common but we are still very close.

She adores my children (who wouldn't, duh) and has made many a 3,000- (when we lived in NYC) or 2,000-mile trip to see them, including spending a week of spring break here in Mayberry when she could've been on a beach or a mountain somewhere relaxing (the idea was for her to be here when Opie was born, but he didn't cooperate). She finds the coolest kids' books you've never heard of at used book stores, and when we all vacationed together in San Diego last spring, she made a special trip to the library to stock up on stories for the kids. She is gifted at flower arranging (she worked Napa Valley weddings for the past few years) and did all the flowers for my brother's wedding and Jo's baptism.





So she is talented and smart and caring and I wish she didn't live so far away. And she's hott, to boot.