So Stephanie called me and she's at Purdue right now waiting for Yoli to come get her. She wanted to come home for the weekend and was able to get a ride to Purdue (which is about half way home from Bloomington).
When I was in school, Stephanie was about 10 years old and my mom allowed her to come and visit me. Stephanie would stay with me for the weekend, and once, she even stayed for her entire spring break, which was over a week.
I really treasure those moments we had. I don't really know what the experience was like for her, but I imagine that it was a completely different world. My friends thought she was the cutest thing and some even had "dates" with her. One friend in particular will always have a place in Stephanie's heart. Her name was Natalia and she took Stephanie to the hippy card store and let Stephanie have a sticker shopping spree. I think she spent something like $20 on stickers, an amount that was astronomical back then. I remember saying something about Stephanie not being able to keep a secret in front of Natalia, so while they were on their little shopping spree, they came up with this elaborate story about a secret that Stephanie was going to keep from me about Natalia. It was so well orchestrated that to this day, I am not sure what was made up and what was true.
Another memorable moment was when Stephanie noticed that my side of the pantry of the apartment that I shared with a girl from a rich family was much more humble than my roommates. Bags of beans, rice, tuna, and other staples from Aldi sparcely lined my side of the pantry; while my roommate's overflowed with candy bars, brand name foods, and bottled water. Stephanie asked me if she could have a candy bar, but my roommate wasn't home and I didn't want to take without asking, so I dug around and found 55 cents and offered to take her to the vending machine. The look in her eyes revealed a feeling of compassion for me and my situation and she politely declined and resigned herself to control her 10 year old sweet tooth.
She reminded me of this 7 years later when I took her to Sugar, an upscale dessert bar where we spent more on dessert than I would have spent on 2 weeks worth of groceries back then.
Those were the moments that made being a big sister so awesome. And now, that she is in school herself, I am so proud of her.
4 comments:
aww thanks liz. yea all my friends say you and yoli spoli me too much. but i always thought that what big sisters do..they spend all their money on you and chiquea you. my friends tell me im just spoiled and older brothers and sisters dont usually do that. so thanks for making me grilled cheeses, tieing my shoes, wiping my butt, and letting me stay with you for a week when you were in college. and thanks for promising me a tea party and then taking it away when you thought i disobeyed you..even though i totally didnt. i still remember that. 5TH GRADE. WOODMAR MALL.
ummm Ok. If I remember correctly, I was about to have an amber alert issued because I couldn't find you for like 15 minutes and it turned out that you and your friend were at Claire's Boutique or something. I was so scared I seriously almost started crying.
By the way, you left out giving you baths, chaperoning field trips, walking you to school, and baking you cookies at midnight just because you and Melly liked the smell. You're welcome.
I agree with everyone. Steph, you are a chiqueada, Lizm, you rock, and Carol, you are just right!
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