Another little corner of my life...

Anyone who's ever visited my room can attest to the fact that they've probably never seen another bedroom more decorated than mine. And I'm not talking about drapes and pillows. I do have curtains on my windows and a floral bedspread, but when I say deocrated, I'm talking about my walls.

I'm not sure how it started, because originally my mother requested that I not put tape on the freshly painted walls, but one day something must have made its way up there, and then before I knew it, I was on a quest to make my room more colorful and inspirational than any other room I'd ever seen. I sleep in the attic, so my room has the highest walls in the house (on three sides at least; the roof has got to slope down somewhere...) Those 14 foot high walls are perfect for my purposes--to hang up as many encouraging, sentimental, and thought-provoking signs as I can. It's an interestingly configured room, but it's all mine, and since I've begun to personalize it, it has become my haven, my caslte, my stronghold, and my sanctuary. Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe it was because I wanted such a place that I decided to personalize my quarters this way.

Anyway, to give you a little peek into my hideout, let me describe to you what I have hanging here. There are huge, oaktag-sized welcome back signs and cards my siblings made me upon my various homecomings, magazine clippings of pictures or articles, notes I received from friends, hand-made colorful signs with various inspirational quotes, pictures of me with some special people I love, post-it reminders of events or phone numbers, computer printouts and pictures from clip art that have some kind of meaningful significance to me, and chunkily colored drawings my students drew for me that have a corner all to themselves. I'm quickly running out of wall space, and I've had friends jokingly ask if I'll graduate to the ceiling next. (I'm seriously contemplating that, too, mind you...)

These signs have served me well--they've made me smile on grey days, have reassured me that I have so many people out there who love me, and have reminded me to focus on the full picture of the real, vast, complex world and my place in it...

Now on to the relevance of all this to today, Sunday, November 18th, 2007.

Today was one of those slow, sludgy, shlumpy days. I did get out of the house, but the weather was not all that conducive to my feeling of well-being or productiveness. As I was heading slowly upstairs, I found a pleasant little surprise on the steps leading to the attic. On a standard 81/2 by 11 white printer paper was the most heartwarming letter:

(Imagine in nice fonts, colored to match my room, with letter shadowing and everything...she does have talent :-) I must give credit to you, o vociferous sister of mine...)

I love you!

Love,

Cheerleader

P.S. You are the best sister in the whole world! I don't know what I would do without you. You are always there for me whenever I need you and you always know exactly what to do to make me feel better. You are the perfect big sister and the best one anyone could ask for! Thank you for always being there for me!

Wow.

Wow...

How did she know this was exactly what I needed to hear today...?

She didn't. I barely spoke to her today besides for telling her she could borrow my umbrella and to ask for my earrings back and to tell her Mommy didn't want her to go out in her good boots.

She was just being herself. Her considrate, sweet, thoughtful self: the Cheerleader I know that makes signs to brighten up her sister's day. I think hers are the most prominent on my walls--even though most of them say the exact same thing--because they're written straight from the heart and were created expressly to make me feel good. It's funny, because she's not the sibling I'm closest with. Out of all my sibs, she and I argue the most, probably due to the fact that I'm convinced she was endowed with more than the fair share of preteen hormones...but that's a discussion topic for another time. :)

Cheerleader, you are awesome! You make me smile so much! I know you get annoyed at me every so often, when I don't tell you exactly what you want to hear, or when I tell you off for something you've done, or when I make fun of you... But I know that even though you sometimes tell me you wish I'd just go away, I know exactly what your insides feel about me... I feel like I don't tell you enough times how much you mean to me...but I know you know it, and I think your letters prove it.

You gorgeous, thoughtful, exasperatingly annoying yet awe-inspiring child... Thank you for brightening my day and for making my job as a sister so much more fun and meaningful.

Love you, sweet girl...