Archives for October 2008

The waiting is over – today my sister became a Mom!

A Mom to a beautiful baby girl. This is so overwhelming and at the same time so freakin’ unfair that I can’t be with her and share in the arrival of our new family member.

Greta was born healthy and happy on October 21, 2008 at 4.44 p.m. (MET).
She was 50cm (19.7 inches) long and weighed 3380g (7.45 pounds).

I am so incredibly happy for my sister, for her husband and so happy for my parents who will be the greatest grandparents ever! And I am also happy for me, because I am an aunt and a godmother-to-be! :)

This is such a huge event in the life of every woman and I thought that I was aware of the fact, but only today did I realize how HUGE the birth of a child really is. Looking at the first, fuzzy cell phone picture of my niece (kindly provided by my Mom), I could see my sister in her tiny little face and realized that from now on nothing will be the same.
My sister is not just “my sister” anymore, but she’s a mom! (Excuse the fact that I probably have to write this out a couple more times in this entry! :)) She’ll be responsible for another little human being and her life will change completely.

Fact is: she’ll be the best Mom any child could wish for.
I know that because I’ve known my sister for 32 years, 7 months and 11 days and nobody knows her better than I do. She’s been an incredible sister and friend (and a wonderful elementary school teacher !).
Let me tell you a little more about her and us.

My sister and I have always been very close since birth – obviously, because we were only born 2 minutes apart. (And yes, I am the old(er) and wise(r) one, in case you were going to ask ;))
Sisterhood is a true blessing. Especially having a sister the same age.

I was a very quiet and shy baby and toddler. Having a sister, who was a lot more adventurous and brave than I was, had its advantages.
In the nursery, our beds were right next to each other and we could easily see and touch each other through the bars, but that was not close enough. My sister still managed to pull herself up and throw herself over into my crip. That’s how close we liked to be.
When we grew older and the crips turned into “normal beds for big girls”, we switched roles. From now on, I would slip under my sister’s blanket at night and she would comfort me, because for the longest time I was convinced that something lived under my bed and I would take a run-up at the door and jump on my bed, so that the ‘thing under my bed’ wouldn’t be able to grab my feet. Pretty stupid, I know.

We moved on to Kindergarten and Elementary School and to be honest, I have no idea where I would be today if it wasn’t for my sister. My parents had a really hard time leaving me with other people for more than a coupler of hours. I would cry and always wanted to be picked up (if they could get to leave in the first place). My sister was always there to comfort me and tell me that it was ok and that Mom and Dad would be back soon and that there really was no need to cry and that I wasn’t alone (so true – because she and I always went everywhere together). I still didn’t believe her sometimes.
My sister always looked out for me and made sure that I was ok, even if that meant that she had to pretend that she wasn’t scared to be in an unfamiliar place (even though she was) or that she wasn’t uncomfortable (even though she was) or that she didn’t mind asking the teacher something for me (when I was to shy to do it myself). In hindsight, it’s very hard to tell how much my sister really stood up for me even though she might have been just as scared, or insecure or uncomfortable as I was. She clearly was my savior.

When we finally moved on to middle/high school (= Gymnasium, 5th – 13th grade), I think I slowly started to learn to not live in my sister’s shadow anymore, although I still relied heavily on her company and just the feeling of security when she was around. It was very comforting to know that she always was where I was.
I cannot imagine going through all the stages in life without my sister right there by my side… attending the same classes, going on the same trips, doing homework together. It was like having your best friend living with you :)

We eventually started growing apart a bit when we hit puberty. She had a boyfriend way before I had my first boyfriend and she started to hang out with different people. It was kind of weird to not have the same group of friends anymore. I guess that was just part of growing up. It was a time of figuring out who we were as separate persons and not as twins. I know it needed to happen at some point.

When we both went off to College, Nina in Cologne and I in Düsseldorf, we started to get closer again and approach our relationship on a different level. Since then,  she has not only been my sister, but  has also become my closest friend.

Today we’ll move on to another stage in our lives… together! She as a Mom and I as an aunt!

Wohoo!