Sweet Sixteen

Yesterday was my sister's sixteenth birthday, and I have to admit that it's really hard to believe. My brother is only fifteen months younger than me, so I can't remember my life without him; however, I was eight years old when Emily was born. I remember when my parents told us that Mom was pregnant, when we found out it was a girl, when I stayed with my grandparents and family friends while Mom was in the hospital for several weeks before the birth, the call Dad made when Emily was born and I found out her name, and the day they came home. After that, it's amazing how few specific moments I can recall of her childhood, yet she's grown up right before my eyes.

Birthdays are always very understated at our house, and Emily's "sweet sixteen" was exactly the same as my own. For dinner, Mom makes us our favorite meal, then we open presents, and then we eat cake. My parents haven't thrown me a birthday party since we moved to Birmingham a couple of weeks before I turned 11, and I never even thought to ask for one for my 16th birthday. Instead, I spent my morning at a friends house after an impromptu slumber party (not for me, but to work on a chemistry homework assignment that was kicking our butts), the afternoon at the football stadium (the high school always has the band perform at their fall fundraiser), and the evening eating dinner with my family.

Emily's birthday was a little less chaotic than mine since it was a school day, and not a Saturday. She's apparently even less interested in birthdays than anyone else in the family, because we essentially acted like it was a normal day (but with cake!). Chris spent the weekend in Auburn visiting his friends, so he wasn't even home for her birthday, and Emily spent the whole day on the computer. But she did get a present from me, and she'll go to the bookstore and Best Buy to pick out her presents from Mom and Dad later today, so she seems happy enough with her birthday this year.