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Sunday, March 22, 2009

1000 words to help you paint a picture

She flips her hair using her neck to admire her own "long, billowing" hair. It never gets past the base of her neck, but she has faith that one day it will indeed be long *somehow*

She loves to have the palms of her hands scratched at night. They are rough and callused because of it. Many many years of it.

She talks in questions. Even when she's writing greeting cards, her punctuation mark of choice is the question mark. Hello? Happy Birthday? I love you? Andrea?

She hates being the last in line when walking in a public space. She is always worming her way up to in front of the rest of the family, working hard exceed our pace while constantly looking back to make sure we're still there.

She is a mic hog. Don't ever go to karaoke with her.

...but she is a great singer. Listen to her sing when you have the chance. Go with her.

She always, always, ALWAYS sees the best in people. Always. She is 1000% blind to others' flaws. It's truly admirable.

She draws people funny, using circles and ovals for each limb, the torso, and the face.

She is infinitely lovable. God truly blessed her with the gift to warm hearts and draw people towards her.

...So when we go to the mall and such, there always seems to be someone from her high school or her church who recognizes her and goes out of their way to say hi.

She is still scared of flushing the toilet.

She thinks cars have feelings. One time she felt sad that my mom's car would spend the night out in the driveway, where it gets "cold and lonely"

She is predictably irritable...most of the time. The other 15% of the time it's a guessing game.

She loves food. She likes to look up cooking videos on Youtube.

She hates watching American TV. Only Korean satellite broadcast channels. Variety shows are her favorite!

She says weird things. Like "your hair looks like an ice cream cone!"

She recently started watching her own weight. It was cute at first and now it is funny and odd. Poor girl.

She will always give her signature temper tantrum for 15 minutes before changing her mind when it's time to go out. We know how to time it now; we just wait for her to come back 'round.

She loves to point it out very loudly (using her finger) when someone farts. "You farted! Gross!" When you're in public, it's mortifying. (Not that it's happened to me...)

She enjoys copying the children's bible, word for word, in neat little lines.

She loves to watch the same show/movie over and over...play the same video game over and over. As a result, there was one time when I had memorized (like, seriously memorized) quite a few movies (i.e. Mulan, Sound of Music, Finding Nemo...)

She likes puppies, but if it's small, she'll smoosh it between her hands and cuddle it SO hard that it'll get annoyed of her.

She loves tofu. More than any other person in the world...I can bet on that.

When she was a a toddler, she put a fat Washington-state sized slug in her mouth thinking it was chocolate. My aunt luckily caught her.

She imitates a lot of the things I do. It's flattering, sisterly, and humbling all at once.

She can't sleep if my mom hasn't come to her bedside to pray together. And she prefers English.

She also took up hook-stitching or whatever it is. She taught me how to do it at least three times and I still don't know how to do it. She feels proud that she knows how to do something I don't know. I like it that way.

She loves to ride the bike. We grew up in a cul-de-sac and currently live in a house with one. She will spend hours and hours just riding back and forth.

She likes to dance in public. She shakes her booty, twiddles her fingers in the air, and does neck isolations. As she likes to call it, she's dancing like an "octopus." It's rather embarrassing.

She spurts out Korean here and there. It's hilarious.

She recently developed the habit of calling you, saying whatever she wants, and then hanging up on you mid-conversation. It happens at least three times a day. For every member of our family.

She likes to lock herself in her room and listen to Celine Dion for hours. And dance, uninterrupted.

She thinks ten $1 bills is worth more than one $10 bill.

She loves to touch soft things, like fur...or my hair.

She is so clever that she thought to hide stuff in her trash can! Where no one can look.

She has an art teacher she adores...often times more than my mother. The art teacher moved to Korea.

She gets teary-eyed thinking about her art teacher.

When I used to get in trouble and have to sit on my knees and keep my hands up as a punishment (yes, Korean style), she would voluntarily join to defend me -->

She makes us proud by doing the simplest of things, like brushing her teeth on her own, or microwaving and cutting her own food. We often laugh about it, but I know the pride is genuine. ''

She isn't a shopaholic, unlike the rest of our family. When we offer to buy her clothes, she says "No, it's okay. I have too many clothes." Looks as if we all have something to learn from her.

She never complains about pain or discomfort. Ever.

...so it makes us even more sad not knowing if she's hiding it to keep us from being alarmed.

She has an impressive (selective) memory. It often reveals how much weight she gives to the smallest of situations, and reminds us how truly valuable each moment is.

She gives us something to work for--a purpose that keeps us grounded day by day. I've made so many mistakes and lost many friends, but she continuously makes me a better person.

She lives in the moment. What seems ephemeral to us means the world to her, one fleeting moment at a time.

She deserves the world and more.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Waves of Longing

To this day, I am utterly shaken by the stillness that exists between us.