la vie en rose

My sister is having a birthday tomorrow! She is the only sister that I really grew up with and had to play with me (she's 6 years older than me, brother is 8 years older, the next sister is 12 years older, and then the twins are 18 years older). We played Barbies in a little alcove under the stairs that my dad built up to be a Barbie village. She knew all of my ballet dances and I knew her drill team routines. I dressed up like her on the 1st day of school (stretch pants, denim shirt, white fluffy bow, perm). She was a good big sister.

When she went to BYU, we moved to Utah. She took me to some of her classes and let me stay the night with her in her apartment. We went to Taco Bell in the middle of the night and we went shopping at Old Navy. I was just like a college kid! We did silly things when she came home - dressing up in brother's clothes (but with 60's mod make-up - ???) and playing with his tools, dressing up in Mom's extra fabric like Pride and Prejudice or gypsies or whatever, disguising ourselves in order to take some old clothes to a neighbor girl in need (we even had code names! But I'm sure they recognized my dad and his van. And we tripped as we ran away - those eye holes were too little.)

As I got older, I wanted to be less like her doppelganger and more like my own person. So there was no way I was going to BYU to be a teacher. Instead, I went to UW to be a teacher. I was going to have my own style; but wait, she shops at Target, too. There's no way our politics are the same, right? Hmm, she likes Obama, too. Well, at least I look nothing like her. Except we have the same haircut. And we do have pretty similar features. And sometimes I catch myself doing a gesture or talking and I look and sound just like her. Is it genetic? Or do I still have a subconcious desire to be just like my big sister?

Happy Birthday Allie Pallie!