For Sarah

This is an exert from a "thought paper" I had to write for my missionary prep class. Apparently my sister's charm knows no end cause writing about her helped me wrangle a 100% out of it

“For there is no friend like a sister, in calm or stormy weather, to cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands."

She is my earliest and fondest memory. Whether from actual memory or a re-creation of stories told, the moment I was told of her coming is etched into my heart the same way every other part of her is. My loving parents sat on our old couch and told my almost three year old self they were going to have a baby. As they searched my face for reaction, I calmly replied “I know. Her name is Sarah.” When my parents attempted to explain they didn’t know if the baby was a boy or girl yet, I defiantly reiterated my knowledge of her and went back to playing with my toys. Turns out I knew what I was talking about.

Sarah was a beautiful infant. A shock of gorgeous blonde curls framed her chubby, smiling face. She giggled and gurgled and warmed the hearts of all who met her. She was the sister I had been hoping and praying for. When she was a toddler, I remember having a terrible nightmare about her. We were standing on an impossibly high, circular arena surrounded by crowds of jeering people. My sister and I were in the center of the arena fighting for the entertainment of those around us. I managed to push her off the edge and left her clinging to its side. She looked up at me in the dream and begged me to pull her up and protect her from falling. In the dream, I failed as a big sister. I woke in a cold sweat, rushed to her bedroom, and reached through her crib to touch her little hand curled in sleep. “I promise I will always protect you Sarah. Always. I won’t ever push you off the edge. Promise.”

As years went on, I certainly pushed my sister to the edge of her emotional limit as she did mine. We fought viciously with one another though we loved each other just as fiercely. Worldly and spiritual trials simply strengthened the bond created in our pre-mortal life. The bond we share now is one of the greatest blessings I have yet to know. She is my constant anchor to believing in love, in the power of temple blessings, in a knowledge of how well our Heavenly Father knows us, in the truth that families can be together forever and in finding the ultimate joy we can while on this earth. I understand more fully how the Savior must love His brothers and sisters through exploring how deeply I love my own precious sister. She has given me glimpses of what the Celestial kingdom must be like through all the laughs shared, all the charitable pasting of each others toothbrushes, all of the tears spilled, and all of the ever pervading love felt. One of the few things I am able to claim a firm knowledge of is that my sister and parents were blessing my life long before we all came to earth, that they are my greatest blessings I have on this earth, and that I will be eternally bound to them long after we leave this earth.