For the Biggest Jellyfish of All.
Today is my sister's birthday.
Erin got a bit of a raw deal when she was born into our family. Our Mom is the youngest of 4. The year she was pregnant with me, the oldest child in our family, her sister and 2 sister in-laws were all pregnant. My 3 cousins were born in the same year, and me the following; they were the youngest of their siblings. 2 years after I was born we got Erin, then 17 months later came Kelly.
Kelly is the baby. Of our immediate AND extended family. I had cousins my age, Kelly had everyone's adoration (she made up a game called "Big Kids Cool" where we jumped on the bed and it was a hit! She was an adorable child.), and Erin got stung by bees every time we would go outside.
Seriously, sometimes we never even made it to the park because she'd get stung by a bee and we'd all have to go home. One time, my Mom got stung by a bee and we were all shocked because Erin was standing right next to her, but she was stung on the hand because she'd pulled the bee out of Erin's hair.
But Erin is so made up of so many things, not just her pure sugar blood. And I could talk forever about the wonder that is Erin, so I'll just say three things: fearless, hilarious, great sense of style.
She is fearless. She never learns the lyrics to any song but sings her made up lyrics as loud as she wants. Family favorites include, "El Dorado" (rather than Desperado), "Build Me Up Buttercup" (to the tune of "Waterloo"), and "Your Kiss is on My Lips" by the legendary band Holland and Oates. When Erin was learning to swim, she ripped off her water wings, ran away from our Mom and jumped in to the deep end. Mom never tells the end of that story, but in my mind she sinks to the bottom but can breathe and just stays underwater through the whole lesson. She went backpacking through parts of Europe, she lived on a tour bus and slept on gym floors when she was in The Academy, she moved to Ohio. Fear. Less.
She is hilarious. Hilarious! I love any story Erin has for me! I told her about this person I know, who always posts positive messages on Facebook and I likened them to a fortune cookie. Erin called them the Dalai Lama, which is so much better! When she was a pharmacy tech, she went on a code and told the entire story of how this dying man's penis was staring at her the entire time she was trying to help the doctors. All us O'Connor's have stories of people thinking we're someone else. It's an everyday occurrence where someone will ask, "have we met?" or "do I know you?" unless you're Erin, they just assume she is, walk right up to her, slap her on the back, yell, "Hey Beatrice!" and she rolls with it. She is Beatrice for however long they're in the same hallway. And I love it!
And finally, she has impeccable style. When she and Kelly were babies, Kelly had a little baby friend over and they took their jammies off, so Erin one upped them, and took off her jammies and her diaper and ran around in the nude. When she was a little girl her favorite color was plaid. When we were kids she would only wear really short khaki shorts. When she was in junior high she had a turtleneck in every color of the rainbow and wore one every day. And when we were in college, we went shopping and she chose a bunch of clothes for me and I came out of the dressing room looking like her. In a skirt, shirt, and sweater, she managed to pick all the things that made me look exactly like her. It was amazing. Fortunately, she has outgrown short shorts, and turtlenecks, but she's maintained her penchant for knitwear. So many cardigans!
She's become an incredible woman, a trusted advisor and confidant, and she really will change the world in spite of the fact that I'm not really sure how... I'm so proud she's my sister.
So Happy Birthday, Erin! Today is your day and that makes you the fanciest boy, but you will always be the biggest jellyfish of all and I will destroy you next!
She's 26 years old and she's going to save the world, or at least prevent a lot of forest fires. Or help the forests regrow. No, what she does is study the bugs in an area after there's a fire and she watches all of them to see if they make the trees grow back. No. She's going to save the world. One forest at a time and it's not up to me to explain her magical methods.
Erin got a bit of a raw deal when she was born into our family. Our Mom is the youngest of 4. The year she was pregnant with me, the oldest child in our family, her sister and 2 sister in-laws were all pregnant. My 3 cousins were born in the same year, and me the following; they were the youngest of their siblings. 2 years after I was born we got Erin, then 17 months later came Kelly.
Kelly is the baby. Of our immediate AND extended family. I had cousins my age, Kelly had everyone's adoration (she made up a game called "Big Kids Cool" where we jumped on the bed and it was a hit! She was an adorable child.), and Erin got stung by bees every time we would go outside.
Seriously, sometimes we never even made it to the park because she'd get stung by a bee and we'd all have to go home. One time, my Mom got stung by a bee and we were all shocked because Erin was standing right next to her, but she was stung on the hand because she'd pulled the bee out of Erin's hair.
But Erin is so made up of so many things, not just her pure sugar blood. And I could talk forever about the wonder that is Erin, so I'll just say three things: fearless, hilarious, great sense of style.
She is fearless. She never learns the lyrics to any song but sings her made up lyrics as loud as she wants. Family favorites include, "El Dorado" (rather than Desperado), "Build Me Up Buttercup" (to the tune of "Waterloo"), and "Your Kiss is on My Lips" by the legendary band Holland and Oates. When Erin was learning to swim, she ripped off her water wings, ran away from our Mom and jumped in to the deep end. Mom never tells the end of that story, but in my mind she sinks to the bottom but can breathe and just stays underwater through the whole lesson. She went backpacking through parts of Europe, she lived on a tour bus and slept on gym floors when she was in The Academy, she moved to Ohio. Fear. Less.
She is hilarious. Hilarious! I love any story Erin has for me! I told her about this person I know, who always posts positive messages on Facebook and I likened them to a fortune cookie. Erin called them the Dalai Lama, which is so much better! When she was a pharmacy tech, she went on a code and told the entire story of how this dying man's penis was staring at her the entire time she was trying to help the doctors. All us O'Connor's have stories of people thinking we're someone else. It's an everyday occurrence where someone will ask, "have we met?" or "do I know you?" unless you're Erin, they just assume she is, walk right up to her, slap her on the back, yell, "Hey Beatrice!" and she rolls with it. She is Beatrice for however long they're in the same hallway. And I love it!
And finally, she has impeccable style. When she and Kelly were babies, Kelly had a little baby friend over and they took their jammies off, so Erin one upped them, and took off her jammies and her diaper and ran around in the nude. When she was a little girl her favorite color was plaid. When we were kids she would only wear really short khaki shorts. When she was in junior high she had a turtleneck in every color of the rainbow and wore one every day. And when we were in college, we went shopping and she chose a bunch of clothes for me and I came out of the dressing room looking like her. In a skirt, shirt, and sweater, she managed to pick all the things that made me look exactly like her. It was amazing. Fortunately, she has outgrown short shorts, and turtlenecks, but she's maintained her penchant for knitwear. So many cardigans!
She's become an incredible woman, a trusted advisor and confidant, and she really will change the world in spite of the fact that I'm not really sure how... I'm so proud she's my sister.
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