13 things I love about Sadie

It's hard to believe that it's been thirteen years since I found myself in a SF delivery room witnessing the birth of my second ever niece. I actually missed most of the birth, as it was my job to wander the halls entertaining her 2 year old sister, Zoe. The wandering went pretty well, as I recall, except for the time we accidentally took the elevator down to the morgue. In any event, we made it back to the right floor just in time to be welcomed in moments after the blessed event. As sleep deprived as the rest of the delivery crew, I remember only snippets. I recall in particular that I was forbidden by my 2 year old charge to handle the squirmy little infant. And of course I can't forget that while I was cooing over her sister, poor Zoe slipped and bonked her head on the bathroom floor.

In the thirteen years that have passed, I have had the pleasure of watching both girls grow into amazing women. Though I now officially embarrass them (usually unintentionally), they tolerate my company more than most adults. I treasure the times I get to spend with them. I am especially grateful for the very weird year of their mother's breast cancer. It was such a horrible time for all, but being together made it wonderful. I was sometimes the third parent, sometimes the third sister, sometimes just the whiny pain in the ass with the driver's license. Like all families, we are now permanently bound together by sharing an intimate knowledge of the smell of each other's farts.

In any case, today I celebrate the little girl, the second born, who took us all by surprise. And so, for your enjoyment, here are 13 reasons I love Sadie:

1. She has no price. She can't be bought. I once offered her $50 to eat a lollipop with a bug inside and she flat out refused. She will not be exploited for my entertainment.
2. She likes oversized things like fake money, big pencils, and large calculators. She helped me plan my future roadside attraction (which I will run when Erik makes me move to Texas) - Big Y Small - where everything is either gigantic or minuscule.
3. She's got groove. During the cancer, she spent many hours trying to teach me to dance. And I often saw her in my rear view mirror, caught up in a particularly good song.
4. She took very good care of her treasured pet duck, Curry. Curry and I had a somewhat adversarial relationship (he bit me and I cursed him) and Sadie didn't hate me for hating him. She did say, however, that if I were responsible for his death (something I sometimes threatened and instantly regretted the day he did pass on) that I would no longer be her favorite anti.
5. She's smart, freakishly smart with numbers, in fact. She likes to catch the clock when it's 11:11 and she gets a kick out of noticing patterns on the odometer.
   
6. She can lie. This is a skill I don't (usually) have. She once convinced me that her sister has received a necklace as a gift from a cute boy. Zoe, of course, insisted it was from her best friend. Though I had no reason to doubt either one of them, I believed Sadie. When the truth came out, I vowed to get revenge with another harmless recreational lie. Sadie was disappointed when I successfully lied but left her on the hook for less than a minute.
   
7. She likes teen stuff like makeup and manicures, Project Runway and America's Next Top Model and, of course, Wilmer Valderama.
   
8. She's got the gift of touch. She can cuddle her way into the most crowded bed and she holds her mother hostage with a half completed head massage. If she isn't a masseuse at some point in her life, it will be a crime.
   
9. She is a loyal friend. She's a secret keeper and a safe place.
   
10. She likes her boobs. Everyone should like their boobs.
11. She's funny. When she saw a car with the vanity plate, "Go Dog Go," she pulled along side and asked them, "Do you like my hat?"
12. She's not afraid to speak her mind, even to adults. She plays sports (especially softball - which I call Cryptonite because it weakens my superpowers) and in the course of her career she's had to deal with some difficult political situations. She has never shied away from sharing her thoughts with her coach.
    
13. When she's mad, she calls her sister Doughie.

I wish she were older because there are so many other wonderful things to share. She's photogenic. She's creative. She wants to be tall. She's a good sport and she loves her mother dearly. She's nice to little kids and people who are different. She refuses to describe people by their race. She's got style. She's not afraid to be herself.

Happy Birthday, Sadie.