Sixteen Candles

Wrapped Up
Originally uploaded by kmc727.

No matter how old she gets, I will always think of my sister Kelsey as this age.

Today is Kelsey's 16th birthday and I'm having all of these flashbacks to when she was just a bitty thing. I remember sneaking into her nursery at night to make sure she was still breathing. I remember the first time she had ice cream and the way her nose wrinkled up when the cold hit her tongue. She was the one who started calling me Nee-Nee because she couldn't say Kendra. When I went away to college she clung to my leg and begged me not to leave. And that first Christmas when I came home, she tackled me in the doorway and covered me with kisses. I remember when she would try on my "big girl shoes" and sunglasses to be Miss Hollywood, as she would say. I remember when she would be in the back seat of my car, with all the windows down singing Queen's "We Will Rock You". When she would call my house in college, she would leave me messages on our machine and they would always end with "I love you and I like you, Sissy!"

These days she has a cell phone and she's taller than me. She has boy drama and friend drama and is living out the drama that is adolesence. I've heard her say the F word. She critiques my clothes, my hair, and *gasp* my accessories. But she always loves my shoes so we let a lot of the other stuff go.

It's hard to believe that I was 12 years old when I held her for the first time. I remember looking at her and thinking, "She has my eyes." I was so happy about that. I also remember being very determined to be a great big sister. I wanted to make sure that she always knew that I would be there for her.

And today as she heads for her drivers test, I say a quick prayer that she'll pass. If she doesn't the world will certainly come crashing down. But to be honest, it makes me a bit blue as I know the days of her riding in the backseat of my car with the windows down while singing "We Will Rock You" are officially over. And yet, at the same time, I'm so excited for her and all the things that come with the freedom of a drivers license. I just hope she points that car in the general direction of my house from time to time.

Happy 16th, baby girl!