This is weird to say, especially at 22, but I was made an older sister again today. Finally, after much hand-wringing and the seemingly endless screaming fights and disappointments, my stepmom had a baby today. Her name is Madeleine Teresa, and though I have yet to meet her (she came just one day after I was home!), I can tell from the pictures that she is quite adorable.
Since Maddie was just born today, I’m not really finished processing or parsing all of the complicated emotions that go along with having this beautiful, wrinkly ball of loveliness pop right into your nucleic family, one that you have known your whole life as just a two-sibling family. I’m not angry or jealous, though I think a lot of people I’ve told have expected me to be. I’m actually just really, really happy, so happy that I’ve booked a ticket to fly home AGAIN (the second 6,000 mile trip in two weeks) July 3rd-5th to meet her. I couldn’t be more excited.
In honor of her birth, I unearthed the diary I kept when I was in 2nd grade. At 7 years old, I reminisced about the birth of my other little sister, Alison, which happened when I was 4. The entry is adorable, and I’m going to post it here. It’s so straightforward, and it says everything I’m really capable of saying about this right now:
What it was like when I got Ali went like this:
My parents called the house and I answered the phone. I said Hi and they said Hi back. They also told me I had a baby sister. At that moment I was so excited I fell over. My grammy got ready and we went to the hospital and me and my grammy waited for almost an hour. The doors to the baby room were locked. Finally my dad came and opened the doors. My baby sister Alison was so cute! I love her.
I think Madeleine is a lovely name. It reminds me of this cartoon I used to watch it as a kid about a little French girl called Madeleine. I loved being a kid.