my big sister.

Published on by Quandie

If you’ve been following my blog since the beginning then you already know that my sister moved to New Jersey shortly after getting married and having her first baby.  At the time our family lived in south Florida and I was only 18.  That was 37 years ago.

I have to say, my sister and I were very different growing up.  I was a total girly-girl.  I liked Barbie’s, makeup and dresses.  My sister was a total tom-boy.  She liked climbing trees, playing sports and … well … I don’t even know what else because we pretty much ignored each other most of the time.

I’m the blonde, she’s the brunette.

Even as adults we are pretty different.  My sister loves cooking & camping and she still wears absolutely no makeup.  I dislike cooking, much prefer a hotel and wouldn’t be caught dead in public without makeup.

You might be inclined to think that spending 30+ years living far apart combined with our rather different personalities might mean we don’t get along, or that we aren’t very close.

But despite those differences and the distance between us, we’ve always managed to get together at least one or two times a year (it definitely helped that our mom is a travel agent).

Then four years ago today my sister moved from New Jersey to Minnesota (her daughter moved here a month or two later as well).

I got to celebrate two things that year, my sister’s birthday and that we finally live within 10 miles of each other.

Now here it is four years later and I continue to be overwhelmed with gratitude at having my sister nearby.  Although it no longer seems unbelievable that we can get together and do things on a whim, like go shopping or out to eat, I don’t take her for granted for one second.

My sister is always incredibly supportive of everything I do.  She’s constantly up for pretty much anything I suggest.  She even sat through an hour long bra fitting at Soma with me recently (and FYI, that was amazing and if you haven’t had an official bra fitting in a while I totally recommend Soma for that).  I know that I can always call on her for anything at all and she will be there for me.

Lately we’ve been spending time planning our upcoming trip to Disney World.  It’s not until October, but we love to plan, plan, plan.  The planning is half the fun for us.  This time it’s just the two of us going and we’re going to focus on trying some new restaurants like O’Hana (which we already have reserved) and we’ll be taking another tour, the Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour, which includes some ‘behind the scenes’ looks at a couple of classic attractions.  We’ll also be celebrating the 50th anniversary of our first trip to a Disney park (yep, it was in 1969).

Why am I bringing all of this up today?  Well, not only is today the four year anniversary of my sister’s move to Minnesota, it’s also her birthday.  So I hope you will all join me in wishing her a happy birthday!  And if any of you are lucky enough to have a sister, take just a moment today to appreciate her.

61 thoughts on “my big sister.”

  1. Happy happy birthday Debbie! (Hope that’s right!). Nothing so fun as a sister to hang with and share your burdens with! So glad you get to spend time together! Many more adventures to you both🤗🤗🤗

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  2. Oh I love this story of how you’ve been able to reconnect! Such a sweet tribute to your sister. I have adopted “sisters” through marriage– two amazing sister-in-laws♥

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    2. Wishing Debbie the Happiest of birthdays! So what’s your favorite cake Debbie? Hope little sis is taking you out for dinner!😘

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      1. We both have the same favorite birthday cake tradition. It’s a banana spice cake with seafoam frosting that our mom always made for us on our birthdays. Fortunately, my niece (Debbie’s daughter) is an amazing baker and she is tackling the cake!

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  6. Happy Birthday Debbie! I so love this post. Of all the women in my life, I love my own sister the most. Lucky us. I’ll have fairy candles from the garden for you, hopefully sooner than later. We talked about them when you were here last summer. Let me know if you’re still interested. And again, Happy Day, Happy Year.

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    2. Thank you and yes to the fairy candles! Linda and I will work out sometime we can come get them. Maybe next week. I work an earlier shift next week.

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  7. Happy birthday Debbie! I have three sisters, two in St. Louis but luckily one of them lives here in Dallas near me. We don’t share a lot of interests, she loves clothes, people, parties and going places. I like old things and staying home. But we love each other and like your Debbie, she would be here in two shakes of a lambs tail if I needed her. Heck, she even came over to help me clean my shed. (Oh, and her name is Linda, too) So I am beyond thrilled for you that she now lives close and I can’t believe it’s been four years already. Here’s to sisters!

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  11. Happy Birthday Debbie! This post makes me cry! So very sweet the bond you have. Wishing you a beautiful day and year ahead. I know you’ll celebrate big at Disney! (you guys haven’t changed a bit since the first pic, adorable) XO

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    1. Thank you! It made me tear up too. We will have a great time in Disney for sure. We are planning to make it an easy going trip while still getting on all the rides. The younger pictures are cute but we have grown up a bit, just still have the blonde and mostly brown hair.

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  13. Thanks Sis! It made me tear up. It really is awesome that we get to do so much together now like flower shopping, bbqing, site seeing, garage sales and much more. See we do have a few things in common. I love living close to you now and love you!

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  14. Happy Birthday Debbie!
    My one and only sister means the world to me in so many ways. She gives good advice (her therapist fees are cheap) we love to laugh, we enjoy our families together, we help with our 91 year old Dad
    together and have just plain fun!!
    Oh, and living 7 miles apart is so nice!

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  15. Happy Birthday,Debbie! How lucky for you both to be able to share your lives together. I wish you nothing but happiness and all good things to come your way. Enjoy your special day.🎂

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  17. Happy birthday Deb! Can’t believe it’s been four years already. Linda is truly enjoying you and Kris living so close. You have great adventures and are seeing a lot more of Minnesota than most. Have a great birthday with many more to come!🎂

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  18. Happy, Happy Birthday Debbie! So happy you are in here in Minnesota to share wonderful adventures with Linda (and sometimes Mike)…which I know she enjoys so much! 🎂🛍❤️

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  19. Happy birthday Deb! I have always wanted a sister! I would love someone to do things with and to know she is always there for me! I do have two cousins that are sisters who are like sisters to me, and a good friend as well that is like a sister but the real deal would be a blessing for sure!
    Count your blessings girls! 😉

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  20. Today is my sister’s birthday too! She lives in Boston and we are considering moving close together. I will forward your post to her and hope we have lots of plan, plan,planning ahead!!

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  21. Happy birthday, Debbie. I understand how important sisters are. Mine is 9 years younger and we have always gotten along, which seems to amaze some people. In fact, now that we are both senior citizens and widows we even live together. We see no sense in the expense of supporting two homes. We give each other the space needed but we also do a lot of things together. So I appreciate how happy you both are to be geographically close again.

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  24. Happy,happy birthday dear sister Debbie. I have no sister and my brother has passed. I know how lucky you two are. I envy your favourite times and I am sure you will have a great time this fall in Disney World. Keep well both of you…and love to Mom.

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