Happy 40th Birthday to my sister

This is Rene', Macie and me on the day of Macie's dedication in April. Today is her 40th birthday. In honor of her birthday I thought I would make a list of 40 things I love about my sister. (These certainly are not in any particular order)
1. She was one of the first people I met in the world.
2. She is the only person in this world who really knows where I come from and how it has made me who I am today.
3. Growing up, she was usually the one to get in trouble because she was the oldest. I don't ever remember her complaining about this either.
4. I never had to make a decision about who would be my matron on honor. I had several close friends so it sure made my life easier.
5. I can call her at any time and for any reason.
6. She came and stayed with me the weekend after Macie was born even though she lives 7 hours away and had just been here 3 weeks earlier for Christmas.
7. Just after Ann Bennett was born, she got on a plane with a tiny baby to come to my wedding shower.
8. She was in my wedding just 3 months after having a baby.
9. She has given me a wonderful chance to be an aunt to my niece and nephew.
10. She let me spoil her kids before I was married and had kids of my own.
11. She loves my kids as much as I love hers.
12. She taught me that you can get into trouble with credit cards in college.
13. She taught me that getting out of college without loans could be a good thing.
14. She allowed me to come visit at the drop of a hat during my single days.
15. She is paving the way for raising a boy and a girl.
16. She is learning all about having kids in school so I can learn from her.
17. She has given me enough hand me downs to cloth my children for most of their lives.
18. She has taught me that when you stay at home with your kids, you don't have to say yes every time someone asks for help.
19. She was there when we had to separate the Christmas ornaments.
20. When I was starting to question Santa, she gave the right answers so I could believe at least one more year.
21. She felt bad when she hit me over the head with the telephone or spayed perfume all over my room in stupid childhood fights.
22. She allowed me to tag along with her friends as we started to get older.
23. She understands why it is important to watch Days of Our Lives on Christmas eve even if you don't have a clue what is really going on in the show.
24. She can struggle along with me as we come up with ideas for Christmas presents for our family.
25. I know if anything happens to me while my kids are young (or anytime) she will give them lots of love to make up for it.
26. We have many memories of skiing through the years.
27. She still goes skiing with us even though it can be a pain to get together.
28. Her family helped us have a wonderful trip to Disney last fall.
29. She came and spent a week with Carson when I had to go back to work for a few weeks before summer.
30. We can talk for hours or sit in silence without any problem.
31. She has taken on Nita's tradition of making peanut butter balls at Christmas time.
32. We always have a good time when our families are together.
33. She has sacrificed being home for Christmas with her kids to come spend it with us.
34. She tells me I need to let things go when I really need to let things go.
35. She is a woman of faith and I know we will get to spend eternity together.
36. If I needed her she would rearrange her life to be here.
37. The seven hours drive between us hasn't drawn us apart. I wish we lived in the same town or even several hours closer, but I know our relationship is still strong.
38. She makes me want to have a 3rd child so Macie has a chance at having a sister.
39. She will work to help Macie and Ann Bennett have a bond that is like sisters.
40. I am blessed to have her as my friend and not just my sister.

Happy Birthday Rene'. I wish I could have been there, but we will do something when I see you next week.