Lucky to Have you in my Life: My Star of a sister Stella turns 18.

In December 1992 on the 21st, I was blessed with a beautiful little sister. In the beginning as I can recall at the age of 5, I did not like having someone new in my life. With her arrival came a lot of stress in my life. I felt as if the world had slipped out under me... Not so poetically as I can say now, I was jealous and disliked my little sister. I had been an only child for quiet sometime and I guess I was use to it, suddenly a new being joined our family and the attention was no longer on me... As I recall my childhood there were numerous fights and pushing/shoving/hair pulling between the two of us. She made my childhood miserable in that I had to share everything or give up everything in possession to her needs and wants... I had to be the older sister and give right to the needs of my little sister over my own. The fighting continued for sometime during my childhood.. that is until my baby sister arrived in 1995.
     Well whatever it was as I grew I just lived my life and as did she... Up until the first year of high school I really did not pay much attention to my little sister Stella, there was for some strange reason always a jealously and animosity towards her for every time in my life had to be given to her; I even had to do her homework on many occasions because she would either not complete or did not bother to do homework. ( coming from a household where both my parents did not know too much english, I had to take on the role of translator and such at a early age. homework help was out of the question, i had to try and figure things out on my own).
    So onto what I wanted to say, I wouldn't say I hated my sister, but things just never clicked for us at the point and time. it could have been the age difference, cultural barriers and confusion of roles, or just simply sibling rilvary... whatever the case we were like oil and water constantly bickering. Finally, when I hit sophomore year and began driving and was obligated to drive my sisters to school I started to get to know the person behind the identity of my sister. Our relationship grew strong quickly and there was a unspoken understanding of our bond and how we understood one another even without words. As the years have gone on I look back and laugh at the silly things we fought about and think of how grateful and indebted I am to this person.
    My sister is now officially an adult, as I look back and see her as the person she is today I am so proud of her accomplishments and the beautiful young lady she has turned out to be. She has strong values, a kind heart, a personality like no other and I am so lucky to call her not only my sister but my friend. She has seen me at my worst and best, and has not passed judgment on my character. I remember one day long ago, we had an altercation and my mother upset at our horrible behavior spoke softly and said that no matter what happens we were family, and family is the only thing you have in this world when everything else disappears. She said, the day she left this world the only remnants we would have is each other so we should cherish one another. The things my mother said that day really stuck with me and I thank her for opening my heart and mind to that.
     Anyways, I guess I wanted to say how much I love my sister, and because of her presence in my life I am a stronger, happier, and wiser person today. She may only be 18, but she really does have the knowledge and soul of someone much older. She has so much ambition and drive I admire her courageous being. Really although she is my little sister, she is my little Big sister who has always watched out for me and understood when I was heart broken and in tears that without words she brought tissues to my hand and wiped away my tears, she knew the pain and although she did not endure it she understood I was hurt and scared. At a very young age she had already knew so much. No words can really describe the love I have for my sisters, and looking back now I see we would be lost without each other.
   So with all this said and done, December 18th, 2010 was the celebration of my sister's 18th year of life. my sister is not one for too much of a fancy or big party, she only requested to spend time with myself, my baby sister, my cousin, and our men. it was an intimate and fun hang out.

we began our day with a nice brunch at the local Mama's.

pictured above is the birthday girl on the right with our baby sister on the left. the envelope was hand made with a supposed picture of Stella, but it ended up looking more like Selena.

our cousin Susie with her bf Ben.

after changing seats, we sat our honorary guest at the head of the table.

the cute little holiday decor, they were real trees.

with gifts in hand from my uncle and cousin susie

the birthday girl and our cousin susie & bf

as you can tell the place is very small, yet homey. there is always a line here * notice the people standing outside in the window waiting for a table.

opening her first present, from me :)

tada!

opening her second present from Selena.

selena's cute little "cool bean" drawing

the jacket she wanted.

present from the bf and i

my sister loves collecting figurines so we got her a little one

a hipPOTamus.

she also collects sneakers, and has a vast collection of over 120+ pairs of shoes.

after a bit of waiting, our food arrives :D

the food was delicious, it hasn't disappointed yet *crosses fingers 

afterwards, we headed down to the Embarcadero for some ice skating.

just to warn you I never ice skated in my life, my mother always worried I would break an ankle or crack my head open on the ice so I never took up the opportunity to learn.

the weather held up pretty nicely and it was a little warm, so it was nice for ice skating outdoors.

waiting for the zamboni to resmooth the ice. 

i thought this was cute how all our shoes were unintentionally lined up. 

everyone ready to go ice skate :) i was nervous!

everyone on the ice, i slipped on my first round. it was extremely cold and wet -______-

after a couple of rounds I started to get the hang out it, but still hesitation will ensue... i'm a scaredy cat. 

after our hour and 30 minutes session, we headed back to the parking garage and drove and met with my parents and some family friends at a buffet for dinner. we ate for sometime and had to drop off my cousin to the BART station, her and the bf had to get back to the Valley. once dropped off, the bf and i headed back to my house for my sister's cake cutting.

my mom and dad with my sister, presenting her birthday gift to her.

yay a new computer! lol how Chinese of them to get her an educational gift.

blowing out her candles.

one last picture: my family.

well another beautiful day to look back on. hope you enjoyed my post.

-Shirley

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