Unbreakable Bonds

When we were kids, my sister Katie was well known for her tantrums. Her clothes, in particular, bothered her. She would tug at her shirt and whine, "This. Shirt. Is. Stupid!" So it seemed only appropriate that we print the saying on a T-shirt to celebrate the momentous occasion of her 30th birthday, which is today.

Here, you can see that my brother Robby and I both managed to spill beer down the front of our shirts.

We all got together in Minneapolis this weekend to celebrate. It was great to have everyone together. It doesn't happen nearly often enough. We even played a drinking game, at which I utterly failed and was forced to chug two beers. Seriously. The game's one basic rule was that you couldn't name people whose last names begin with "H" (we were naming celebrities). Two of my answers? Katharine Hepburn and Whitney Houston. Brilliant!

I've always been grateful for the close relationship I have with both of my siblings (although I suspect my brother has at times wished he had a brother rather than two older sisters). We didn't always all get along, but we've had more fun than fights over the years. When Katie and I were little, we found a perfectly flat, round piece of wood, and decided it would be our "Best Friend's Wood", on which we promised to be best friends forever and love each other forever.  It is pretty cute. We still have it somewhere. (Probably in my parents' garage, which contains several tubs of my childhood memorabilia.) And we've held true, even though we haven't lived in the same city since I moved away after graduating from high school. Katie is my best friend - we can talk about anything and everything, and do several times a week. We are each others' sounding boards for all of our worries, rational and not.  So, to my sister and best friend - I hope you have a very happy birthday. Thanks for always being there!