A Birthday Tribute to My Sister, Annie

For today I thought I'd pen a tribute to my wonderful sister in honor of her 55th birthday.

She was born on March 8, a very special day indeed as it is "Women's Day" here in Taiwan.  But 3-8 has another fun meaning... It refers to someone who is very flashy.

I have known her all my life... ha, ha, ha...

Here are a few pictures of my sister and me --

I would say my sister and I are very different.  She is brave and I am a scaredy cat.  She drives well whereas I strongly dislike driving.  She is disorganized but I love things neat and orderly.

Even at a very young age, she was known to be mischievous.  If my mom did not hear her for even a few minutes, she knew Annie was "up to something".  I think she was hyperactive attention deficit. But back then, they didn't have these kinds of labels. So, my mom just made sure that Annie was kept busy all the time. She was extremely talented.  She danced and sang and played so many different instruments. And she was brilliant!  She could look over a lesson in just a few minutes and score high on every test!

Now, how about my experiences with my sister, Annie?

The year that I turned 10 we moved to America.  Being two years older and gifted, she attended Luther Burbank Junior High School.  She noticed that most of the girls had their ears pierced. Having just arrived from Taiwan, we did not have our ears pierced. She had a brilliant idea. She found out how to do this and experimented on me.  Even now, to put on my earrings, I have to wiggle my ear lobe as the hole was not pierced completely in one quick stroke. In fact, my ear lobe got easily infected for quite a long time afterwards.  I also have a scar on my left knee as another reminder of the strange things I let my sister talk me into.  In our neighborhood, there was a steep hill called Suicide Hill.  We had two bikes -- a 10 speed bike which had breaks but was too big for me to ride and a smaller bike without breaks that had a banana-style handlebar.  Looking at the hill, I wanted to walk the bike down. My sister, on the other hand, thought that would be way too slow as she would have to be at the bottom of the hill waiting for me. So, she told me to go down and if it got too fast, I only had to put my feet down and the bike would slow down.  Needless to say, I took her word for it that this tactic would work. But half way down the hill, no matter how hard I put my feet down, the bike did not seem to slow down.  I saw smoke coming from my shoes and I lost control. The bike flew and crashed into the sidewalk and I flipped and tumbled. I do not know how I survived the crash.  My jeans were bloody.  My left knee cap had a hole and I could see the white of my bone.  I don't remember what we did next, but I do remember her running towards me, yelling, "What happened?"

Many people don't understand my sister. With all her "wild ways" or her "grouchiness", the truth is -- she is a softie!  She rescues cats and dogs.  She feels very deeply for those in need.  She cries easily and she loves deeply.  I don't think her kids appreciate her or see her this way, which is very unfortunate.  My kids love their Aunty Annie.  They love all her chickens and cats and dogs.  Aunty Annie even feeds the opossums that come around their backyard, not to mention the birds and raccoons.  They love going over to Aunty Annie's house.

I can write so much more about my dearest sister, who I love so much and pray so often for.

So, in closing, I write these words of blessing to wish her the happiest birthday ever --

May God surround you with joy.
May your ears hear His voice as He leads you each day.
May your heart sense Him singing over you.
May your chickens lay eggs all year round and many with double yokes.
May your aching knees and back pains be strengthened so that you can run and bike many more miles.
May the dumpsters always hold more treasures than you can ever imagine.
May the road ahead be filled with more cherished memories, like the ones I have of you!

Happy Birthday -- I love you LOTS!!!!

Seek Him First!