Is that a Tiara or a Halo?

Dearest Princess,

There was time - longer ago now than I ever thought possible - when we didn't have each other. A world before rambling phone conversations, My So-Called Life
and Madonna concerts. On your birthday, I can't help but reflect on the fact that you've been a gift to me for more than a decade now. I have been better for it and I only hope I haven't let you down too often.

I sometimes think that in an alternate reality, we were born as twins and shared a bathroom growing up. (In this reality, my lil' sister and FB were born into the same family as each other, sealing the cosmic deal of our spiritual siblinghood.) I can only imagine the fights over hair dryers and the competitive piano lessons we would have had when we were kids. But I also figure that playing He-Man & She-Ra would have been a lot of fun.

In this reality, you have been my constant, my touchstone to the day to day process known as life. I know there have been times I've been that to you. There were plenty of times we got off course and seemed to miss more than we caught. But when you fled to Europe that one time, I knew something was missing. When you cam back, I felt the beat of a heart I know inside and out. You've seen me at every moment: train-wreck-in-progress, happy, sad, silly, funny, working it all through. I've seen you in love, broken hearted, overcommitted, passionate and tired of it all. I've been frustrated by you plenty, as I'm sure you've been frustrated by me, but I've never tired of you. Your Courtney Love/Lilo-like rambles have always made perfect sense to me, even if they left the world scratching a collective scalp.

It's funny how we owe so much of our bonding to boys. The boy we both liked in high school. The boy who introduced us because you observed that I flirted in the same way. The boy I fell in love with who still makes both laugh until our sides hurt. And the boy I was who grew up alongside the prettiest girl in the room. Nobody ever quite gets the litany of explanations we have for moods: fat day/full moon/only child/whatever. As long as I have you to simply nod and say, "Yeah" when I complain, nobody else has to.

I checked - Hallmark still doesn't make that "You're like a brother/sister, thanks for prom, congratulations on your graduation - have you seen a floating Coke - well, like you know, whatever..." card. A simple "I love you" will have to do.

I love you.

Let's do this best friends thing forever, OK?
-J.

This post was sponsored by the Feliz Cumpleaños Committee.