Being a "BIG"

Dearest Olivia,

      She already looks at you with adoration.  Admiration.  Wonder.  To her, you are the big to her little, the built-in friend she's had since birth.  She will play countless hours with you, laugh with you, cry with you, share her secrets with you... and you will do the same.  Our wish for you both is that you respect one another's differences, appreciate one another's strengths, and offer mutual love and support to one another throughout your lifetime.  May neither of you ever take this beautiful relationship for granted, and may you realize that sisterhood is not a given; being a sibling is through the sharing of two parents.  Sisterhood is so much more, a treasure you must hold safely in the palm of your hand, a relationship you both must cultivate and work to maintain.  While we hope it is very, very slow, we look forward to witnessing the two of you grow independently, yet together, as the years pass.  May you find that you are not only siblings, but sisters - friends - that both contribute to this unique, irreplaceable, amazing bond.  We "just" 

love you girls - deeply!  

Love, Mommy and Daddy

"A younger sister is someone to use as a guinea-pig in trying sledges and experimental go-carts.  Someone to send on messages to Mum.  But someone who needs you - who comes to you with bumped heads, grazed knees, tales of persecution.  Someone who trusts you to defend her.  Someone who thinks you know the answers to almost everything." - Pam Brown