Smoking Hot Roommate, continued

OK, I threw a bunch of random stuff at you the other day, so today I want to kind of fill out the Smoking Hot Roommate picture. Really, what I want to talk about is how good she has been to me, and to my adorable little attachment;-) Also…I went over 2,000 visitors yesterday…yay!!!

As I mentioned the first time I wrote about her, I didn’t like SHR when I first met her. It took a little while (and meeting her now-fiance) to realize what a great person she is. My guess is that she knew I didn’t really like her that much, but she was always incredibly nice to me. That’s just how she is.

I would like to go back to the early summer of 2005, immediately after we finished school. We packed everything into my car (she, true to form, donated her car to the American Cancer Society of the Southwest, or someone like it) and the plan was to hit Chicago for a week, then go to Boston and get moved into our new condo. Actually her new condo, but that is just a detail:-P

It was during that week in Chicago that the bombshell dropped.

Now, a lot of people in this forum have noted the obvious difficulties of taking in my little sister. And most of it is true…but it is something I gladly did because she is my little sister. What is also true is that it is a HUGE imposition on SHR. It’s not her sister, and she has no obligation to her at all. But she has been an enormously important part of Munchkin’s life, and I couldn’t ask for a better role model.

She didn’t sign up for quasi-motherhood. I think most 21 year olds would probably shy away from living with someone else’s child responsibilities. And I really kind of assumed that she would, and thought a lot about how I might make other arrangements to live on my own. But she didn’t. Not only was she ok with Munchkin coming to live with us, but she was genuinely excited about, and took on her portion of that responsibility with great sincerity and dedication.

I would say that she is like an older sister to Munchkin, but really it is more than that. She baby sits all the time, she picks her up and walks her to school if I can’t, she helps her with her homework and does all kinds of other things that there is no real reason to expect her to do. It has been a huge sacrifice for her, and I think it speaks volumes about her character that she has been willing to shoulder such a burden. It has made my life immeasurably easier, and I could never thank her entirely.

She has been a great role model for me, too. I know that sounds kind of silly (I am older than her, after all) but it is very true. She is much more “worldly” than I am, and has opened my eyes to all sorts of things I never would have known. I have my job because she encouraged me to try it and because she helped me with the confidence to take on a totally new challenge. During my first month of full-time work, she encouraged me to seek out a mentor to help me professionally, which has turned out to be some of the best advice I have ever gotten.

OK, I am gushing now…lol. But it is easy to gush about her:-) She is gushable…

So, I guess that is sort of it. I hope I have managed to capture her at least adequately. She is brilliant, funny, kind, generous, caring, considerate, thoughtful and millions of other good words I can’t think of right now. She is my roommate, my friend, my sister and my role model. And, she looks absurdly good in a bikini;-)

So, Happy Birthday, kiddo! You deserve everything good that comes to you!