My Baby Sis

My parents have shaped so much of who I am today. They’ve given me a safe home, and (like all awesome, competitive, A-type personality Asian parents) bought me some hobbies in art and music and dance. They’ve taught me the importance of education, to seize the best opportunities, and to take risks. Everyday, I become more deeply grateful that I come from a beautiful home. But, if there was one thing that I am the most grateful for, it’s the fact that my lovely parents gave me siblings.

Up until age 9, I seriously thought the world revolved around me. I had the full love and attention of everyone in the family..24/7. I would shed a tear, and the next moment, I would get whatever I screamed for. My grandpa once cooked 3 separate dishes for me…cause I wasn’t willing to eat any of them. I was…spoiled (ya think?!)

Then came my sister, a rotund 9lbs of boneless chub. My parents and grandparents busied themselves with the everyday activities of a newborn. When she cried, I got in trouble. When she learned to walk, she started keeping my stuff. When there was something yummy, she always got the last piece. And yet… I came to love her so so…so so much.

Because in the midst of the annoying crying, nagging, intrusion of privacy, unwanted touching and attention she brought to my life, my sister taught me to love more than anyone else in this world. She shaped the way I loved at the time in my life where everyday I was molding my heart and mind to the person I would become.

From the sharing of things I didn’t want to share, she taught me about generosity and how I can give without expectations of anything in return. From those stubborn fights, she showed me that apologies aren’t here to prove who’s right, but to show us that relationships and forgiveness matter more than what we want to agree on. In exerting her carefree, social butterfly, “whatever” – personality, she taught me to accept and appreciate people simply for who they are despite how different our dreams, priorities, and lifestyle may be. From those hours of parental attention I did not receive, I learned to be introspective and to rely on myself to learn from my mistakes. Trying to live up to the unrealistic and incomprehensible amount of admiration she carried for me, I hold myself to a higher standard in everything that I do. This fall, when my “baby” sister went to college, and started partying, I learned what it feels like to wear my heart outside of my body.

Lizzy taught me so much about love, the type of love that I always hoped to give to the people I care about. When I see all the wonderful things that my parents have given me, I am most thankful for my darling baby sis. Because whether she knows it or not, she taught me how to deliver the single greatest experience of our human existence…unselfish love.