Oh Sister, My Sister

March 29th, the day of my sweet sister's birth.


For those of you who don't know Alicia, you are missing out.  For those who do,  I pray you know how lucky you are to know her!
 


Since we were children, Alicia has always been the calmest out of the 5 Humphrey girls.  She continually remains number five in the ever-fluctuating self-imposed drama scale we've devised.  

Always the first to offer compromises or encouragement, to see both sides of an argument, she is truly the peacemaker of the family.


Alicia, because we are so close in age, we have been friends since I can remember, and it was this friendship that got us through some of the hardest times in our lives.  

Oh, the insane memories that flood my brain could fill a thousand 3-ring binders......but I will try to give a little list:

Playing air mail for hours after it was time to go to bed.  For those uninitiated, this involved throwing a rosary pouch back and forth from Alicia's top bunk to my bottom bunk, or whatever formation we slept in at the time.   I kid you not, this kept us entertained.  For hours.


When you stepped in that basket and broke it and I tried to blackmail you?  Yeah, I was a brat.


How almost every night we'd ask for Dad to bring us honkin' big tumblers of water, then he'd shut the little cubby door almostallthewaybutnotquite for a little light, but I'd get up and open it an inch or two or six more because I was terrified of the dark and you so weren't.


Our "elevator" and "clown" routines of which we were so proud.  The former meant I laid on the floor on my back with my legs straight up in the air hands stretched flat above me.  You stood on my hands, held onto my feet and I either lifted you straight or hurled you through my legs so you'd land on the floor.  The clown routine meant I lay on the couch, you ran from the kitchen and then we did the elevator.  Was it really worth typing all this out?  You betcha.


Dancing in the living room to El Shaddai and making up our own mumbo jumbo instead of the appropriate Hebrew.


Hiding cigs and hooch in between the doors of the "balcony," thinking we were smooth operators.

Sitting on the roof enjoying said contraband.
   
                           

Olden Days.  Coffee Can.  I'm just sayin'.....

The fact that we seriously choreographed a dance to Zombie by the Cranberries, only one of the most un-danceable songs of the 1990s.  But we rocked it. 


Corbettes together forever.

Depending on one another for support, hope and companionship at times when circumstances were dire, when our sisterhood meant the difference between manageable-ish to absolutely soul-crushing pain.  And for the record, this is not an exaggeration.

I feel honored to be your sister, and thankful and humbled. 


We have been one another's maid/matron of honor.  We have supported each other through fertility challenges and rejoiced in the miracles that are our children.  We have comforted and bolstered during c-sections, tended wounds and snuggled babies.  

 Our friendship continues to ripen as we age and we are blessed by a shared tight-knit group friends.  These dear friends in turn have littles who love our littles and weave the beginnings of a new era of memories and kinship.

Hospitality is a way of life for you, the revolving door of gatherings large and small.  You always offer your home with a smile and an open couch/bed/fridge/heart.


Alicia, your sweet and gentle spirit is a testimony to the profound grace of your faith.  Amidst many challenges, your ability for optimism manifests strength that can only be divinely given. 

I love you for all this, and for all that remains unsaid.  You are a lovely woman, and a blessing to this world.