I Suck At Celebrating My Favorite Sister In-Law's Birthday

today is my favorite sister in-law's (janine) birthday. happy birthday janine! i hope you have a great day today. unfortunately, i suck at celebrating my favorite sister in-law's birthday.

luckily for me, i actually celebrated janine's birthday yesterday. karen, her parents, and i were invited to janine's for a birthday dinner. my favorite brother in-law (pj) had cooked janine's desired meal for her birthday: meatloaf. he actually made two loaves... one that was barbeque flavored... and the other ketchup flavored. they were both good.

anyway, it goes without saying that janine is my favorite sister in-law even if her other cousins think that she is a "bad seed". growing up, i always wanted a sister... not that i have anything against my older brother. i love my brother. i just always thought it would be fun to have a younger sister to pick on. i look at my nephew (pj) and niece (kaleigh) and i sometimes think about how fun it must have been to grow up with a sister.

i'm actually quite lucky to have janine as my sister in-law. she has done a lot for both karen and i and i probably don't thank her as much as i should. in fact, i think i've only given her a hug once. i'm generally not a huggy person... unless i imbibe a little too much... and even then i'm not so huggy much anymore. but yes, i believe i have only given her a hug once.

i actually remember the hug very well because the hug was in the parking lot of south shore hospital. at the time, there was a lot of chaos. karen and i were asked to make so many life/death decisions in such a short amount of time due to the severity of the premature birth of our son (braden). the experience was scary and numbing at the same time. unfortunately, as much as we hoped for the best... and as much as everyone else supported us with their thoughts and hopes... things did not work out for braden.

amid the chaos of that week, i remember feeling some comfort when janine gave me a hug. with tears in her eyes, she had congratulated me on the birth of braden. it was a touching moment for me and i will probably always remember that. i'm sure somewhere out there, braden is thinking about how lucky he is to have such a great auntie.

anyway, happy birthday janine! enjoy your day!