On the day we met,
I was struck by two things:
how your face opened up
like a book of kindness
and how completely in tune you were
with your own body.
You were confidence in motion.
I was in awe.
And my brother was in love.
And each day since then,
you have been
the sister of my heart,
a gift to my family.
Time and again,
I have seen
how you harness seamless energy
of mind, body, spirit:
on the basketball court,
on the dance floor,
Even in the throes of labor,
when you reached down
and delivered your own son
from your own body--
one of the most beautiful things
I have ever seen.
And so it seemed impossible
that the words breast cancer
belonged anywhere near your name.
A cruel incongruity.
A ridiculous mistake.
And I wouldn't have blamed you
if you had slammed that beautiful,
open, kind face
shut for a while.
But you didn't.
You wrote your story for all to read.
And you triumphed--
through surgery and radiation and fatigue
and teaching and mothering.
You came out cancer free!
And I just wanted to tell you
how grateful I am,
and how beautiful you are,
and how much I love you.
My sister,
my hero,
my friend.
