She's Amazing

I think we are all a bit in awe of our youngest sister. 

One minute she was tiny, and I, ten years her senior, was changing her diaper, tucking her into pajamas, and rocking her to sleep. 

Another minute later, she had this wispy blonde hair and huge blueberry eyes, and both looked and behaved like a china doll. A china doll who blurred her "r"s most adorably, and I wondered if she'd ever speak like a regular person. 

Next minute, she was suddenly ten and bursting with visceral excitement, hands clasped, face bright red, while presenting Tim and me with her handmade mugs as wedding gifts. 

And then, whaddyaknow, she's grown up, graduating from Harvard after four years of insanely hard work, rowing crew, playing viola in the orchestra, serving with the church youth, being ordered around as an undergraduate research assistant, and learning to accept her role as the family youngest and not to blush so very hard when we tease her, as we are always wont to do. And she went home every single Sunday afternoon to take care of my dad during the night. 

She's going to be a doctor by the time another minute passes, and maybe the M.D./Ph.D. kind at that. She recently had dinner with Rory Stewart, author of the bestseller The Places in Between. She's also dined with the president of Harvard University. She's outdone us all, really, yet she maintains her humility and sweetness in the midst of her intense drive and considerable accomplishments. Case in point: Three days before her graduation, she took the time to dig out her American Girl doll from the attic and take her young nieces to have the doll's hair styled. I bet she had to miss some Special Harvard Events for that. 

She's not really my little sister anymore as she's not only taller than I, but also my intellectual superior. I'm just glad she reads books I recommend and shares her own picks with me. Oh, did I mention she was homeschooled for seven years?

Happy Birthday, Louisa! 

(Here's a little something I made for the kids' scrapbooks in honor of graduation week -- my first fully digital layout! ...)