I like her.

I called my sister this morning a little after 8am which is a bit early to be calling a college student, but hey... that's what voicemail is for. I was surprised to hear her groggy hello on the other end, and after I got past the few seconds of guilt for waking her up (even though she said I didn't), I told her that I had some food for her to pick up at my house that day if she wanted. Sadly, she wasn't able to come by. We said our goodbyes, and I'm guessing she went back to sleep.

A few minutes later, the phone rang, and she told me that her morning classes had been cancelled because her professors were sick. Yay! We cheered, and I felt guilty again - this time for rejoicing that someone else was in pain. But this left her with a free morning to do whatever she wanted. She could sleep more, watch Matt Lauer, go get a cup of coffee and enjoy the chilly morning, or even study (just in case Mom is reading). But she chose to spend her free morning with me. I hoped she would, but I was still surprised when she did.

We've always been buddies. Sure, we went through a couple of years where her only goal in life was to push my buttons and get me in trouble; she was rarely in danger of being in trouble herself because she was just so dang cute. She still is. Now we're allies. Now we get excited to tell each other the silly and the deep. We like being together for whatever reason, and we always seem to find some line of conversation that involves using accents. (Today she did an impersonation of a customer at her work, a lady from New York who was trying to get money for her dead mother's hearing aids... seriously; she had me doing the awkward donkey gasp laugh.)

I love my sister. I always have. But I'm really glad that I like her, too. She's great fun, a great friend, and she makes me feel special when she chooses to spend her free time with me. It's fun to share a language of words and jokes and looks that no one will ever be able to translate. It's nice to get a call from her asking to drop by or if she can tell me something funny that happened in the parking lot. Nothing is ever too small or too big. We're sisters. We're also best friends.