Today is my sister’s 32nd birthday.  As stated above, she’s awesome (she also suggested that as the title of today’s blog, and I don’t think she thought I’d do it, but there you go).  It’s wonderful to have a sister.  I have 3.  And 2 brothers.  (It’s wonderful to have them, too.)  And I have an amazing mom and a wonderful dad and a fantastic stepmother, and tons of aunts and uncles and cousins.  I am truly so very fortunate to have the family that I have.

The only problem is that I miss them terribly.  There is not a single day that goes by where I don’t have the thought, ‘I wish *they* could see this’.  (*They* could be any one, or more, of them.)  It happens EVERY SINGLE DAY.  I see something new, or watch my kids do something amazing, or witness something funny, or do something impressive, or make a complete fool of myself, and I constantly think, “I wish I could have shared that moment with my family”.

So today, like always, I am thinking of them, and most specifically, of my sister Amanda, who has a birthday today.  I wish I was there.  I wish I could be making plans with her about where we’d go to dinner this weekend, or what we’d make if we were staying in.  I wish we were in the same time zone so that I could have texted her as soon as I woke up and thought of her this morning, or the dozen other times I wanted to say “Happy birthday!” that happened before it was a decent hour to call or text where she was.

So, happy birthday Mina — you’re awesome!  I wish we could be together to celebrate how fantastically wonderful you are.  I miss you.