"I never said it would be easy, only worth it."
This catch phrase used to play over and over and over in my mind as a teen. Basically, what I took from it to mean is that in life there would be trials and that there would be downs, followed by ups. That things would be hard for a while, but that suddenly all the things that seemed hard would have this new and wonderful shine on them and that life would be better, easier and more fun in general.
Don't take it to mean that I was a miserable teen or person - anything but - but I was most certainly not happy with where I had got myself; not anywhere bad or off track, just confused about who I was, like every other teen I knew at the time.
My sister, the one pictured here in the photo above, was the only one I thought had it down. She'd had some problems I was aware of, but those aside, I had seen her come right through them and get through high school and achieve her long term dream of studying Psychology.
Life has worked out very differently for us both; me the confused teen who stumbled through most days and her the cool and confident (in my mind) one. But I like to think this is exactly where we both should be; improving ourselves, our lives and getting better at working at our relationship.
When we grew up we had so many laughs. It makes me terrified to know what mischief two teenagers can really get into (don't worry, nothing too extreme, just cheeky. Or that's the version of events we're sticking too.) I also believed my sister was this big trendsetter; anything she didn't wear wasn't worth owning. She also did my hair and make-up for my wedding and everyone kept asking which hair dresser I'd gone too. Ha!
Here's her thoughts on yours truly (in her own words, I promise I didn't doctor any of it ;):
From a very young age I fully realized how important the relationship with my sister would be. We shared a room from the time I was aged 7 and her 4 and a half and although there is 2 and a half years between us I have always felt like the younger sister. She always seemed to be the more logical, more practical, more mature one. Whereas I was more the one to learn a lesson from! The greatest gift she has ever given me, with the exception of my nephew, is our shared memories. Our bond is a strong one strengthened by many things but mostly many a late night filled with giggles and a trip down good old memory lane.
