Day 6: "No way me too!"

My parents waited 7 years to have my twin. That sounds weird. Okay, fine. We aren't actually twins, but we kind of are. Autumn is the baby. The "surprise". She is a legit miracle child in every sense of the word. My sisters are my best friends. We've been through life together. Even if we don't live in the same house or same state, we still talk all the time and we share life with each other. There are things we say to each other that we would never say to anyone else. Autumn and I like to say that we share a personality. Or really 5 personalities. Susan, Thomas, Jeff (as in Jeff the Wiggle), Alicia, and Autumn. We were separated at birth (+7.5 years).

If you watch Grey's Anatomy, you'll understand that Autumn is my person. I don't love her more than Amanda or Alayna, but she is the person who says "That happens to me too." She reminds me that I'm not alone. I'm not crazy for feeling the way I feel about things. The stupid things I get excited or angry about, she is there to say "NO WAY ME TOO!" or NWMT. We shortened it because we said it so much. Autumn and I are so much alike, but I can only hope that I have the same qualities she has.

Autumn is brave. She's hilarious. She takes chances and risks. She is quirky, but she's not afraid of it. She has a unique style, and she does not care that she gets weird looks when she wears a turban. Autumn loves people. She sees the good in people that others write off. She appreciates. She notices. She is smart and passionate. She gets cranky when she's tired. She gets silly when she's tired-er. She loves Yoo-hoo's and Cheez-its and Twix bars. She's allergic to peanut butter and fake people.

She is my sister, a miss, not mister. Smallest of four, farthest from the floor. How did she get tall? Her name, it means "fall". For some, a favorite season, and we all know the reason. It's cause of her, you see. Cause she is Pre-et-ty.

Day 5: It's okay to show some emotion

When I was younger, I was pretty animated, but I was also a little shy. It depended on the setting, really. I think. There was a time when I wanted to be the center of attention, but somewhere along the way I decided that other people's opinion of me mattered more than my own. So I would stop telling stories if they weren't totally relevant to everyone present. I would stop expressing my opinion if I thought it might offend someone. I sank back into the shadows. I took the backseat to let others drive. As a result of that, I still struggle with expressing myself. Sometimes I hold it in for so long that I end up crying. Not always because I'm sad, but mostly because I'm overwhelmed. My soul gets overwhelmed. I have a hard time making decisions too. That's a big struggle.

One person who has no problem showing emotion is my sister Alayna. Alayna operates in extremes. Things are rarely mediocre in her life. Everything is either awesome or horrible. While that can be exhausting, I'm sure, it also means that she is not afraid to express herself. She lets people know how she feels. She doesn't keep dating a boy that bugs her because she doesn't want to hurt his feelings. She doesn't let people discourage her love of Alabama football (I'll probably write a whole post on the Tide at some point. Thank you, Mom, for that love.) She clings tightly to the people and things she loves: her family, Alabama football, Haiti, Africa, orphans, JESUS, etc. She doesn't worry what other people think of what she says or tweets or posts on Facebook. She looks for the good in situations that seem dark to others. She befriends people that are ignored by others. She does not care if she hasn't seen someone in 15 years. If they were friends in kindergarten, they are still friends. She laughs loudly. She cries. She laughs so hard that she cries. She fake cries so hard that she for real cries. And she absolutely does not love it when you put your sock in her mouth.

Alayna teaches me that it's okay to show emotion. It's okay to express how you feel. It's okay if someone doesn't agree with you. There is no reason to hide.

Day 4: Don't Give Up

My sister, Amanda, has always set goals for herself. When we were miniature, her goal was to win the District, State, and National Free Will Baptist Singing Competitions each year. When she did, she had an iconic (shrill) scream that she became known for. People would plug their ears when they heard her name being called. In high school, her goal was to be voted Best Dressed of her senior class, and she succeeded. She went to an expensive college and graduated with some student loan debt, so her next goal was to pay that off. She worked hard to get there, but she didn't put the rest of her life on hold. She and her husband still travelled (a lot) and still pursued other goals and dreams at the same time. She's had one big goal for a long time. She's always wanted to own a café. A place where she could have coffee with people and talk with them and build relationships. Last fall, she paid off the last of her student loans, and on January 1 of this year, she and Chris bought their café.

There have been times that Amanda thought her dream would be realized only to be faced with another disappointment. She may have had to wait, but she never lost sight of that desire to have a place where she can make friends every day. Now she has that place. And she loves it. And the people love her. One man said "she's like the mayor of this town. she knows everybody." And that is accurate. Amanda will talk to you like she's been your best friend for all 32 years of her life even if it's the first time she's ever seen you. She does not care if you're a stranger. She will treat you like family.