Plane Day.

13 years ago today I became a sister.  It wasn't the birth of a baby that made me a sister, but an arrival on a plane from South Korea.  An arrival through the gates of Dulles Airport that made me a sister. An arrival of a 6 month old baby girl with hair sticking straight off her head that made me a sister.  The feeling of an empty space being filled as an only child for 11 years that made me a sister.  And since that day, that rainy cold March day, we have added a million more ties and reasons that bind my sister and I, but the arrival on that plane was the first time I knew J was my sister. And so every year for the rest of my life, I will celebrate Plane Day. 

For me, being an only child for eleven years was almost as tough as the awkward stage I went through when I was eleven....

J arriving on the plane that day was a blessing and an answer to so many prayers I had had my entire life. 

 She came off of that plane a presence to be reckoned with and she has been a spit fire ever since. She refused to sleep in a crib, so she slept on the floor of my parents' room for two years.  She refused to let anyone do too much for her, so she walked ran at nine months.  She refused to eat sandwiches, so my mom has packed her noodles, rice, or bagel bites in her lunch for the last ten years. She refused to get her ears pierced, so she never has. 

J was by my side through high school. 

J was there every weekend that I came home from college and at every important event through those 4.5 years.  She was on the phone with me through every break up, every homesick phone call, and every celebration. 

 J and I have been through losses in our family and the divorce of our parents. We have been through the "why don't you look like your sister?" and the fights that normal sisters have (eleven years apart or not). 

We have been through Hanna Montana and Jonas Brothers concerts. 

My sister puts up with me daily and loves me anyway. 

 Now, at 24 and 13 we have this sister thing down pat.  We steal each other's clothes. We roll our eyes..a lot. We get reprimanded by mom for getting "smart with each other". But we rock this sister thing out.

 My Asian mini-me is more beautiful inside and out than anyone I know. 

 So today we will eat Sushi, play Jeopardy, open a new pair of Toms, and keep on keeping on. Thank God for adoption, thank God for my sister, thank God for that plane that flew her 18 hours into our lives. 

Happy Plane Day J.