Dear Sissy,
Let me begin by saying Happy 22nd Birthday! (One month til my birthday!….It just wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t slip that in!) Even though it’s your birthday, I’m sure the topic on everyone’s mind is your upcoming wedding, I know I have been thinking about it a lot lately- especially because I wish I could be there for you during the planning and showers and everything that goes along with a wedding. Trust me, seeing you pick out a wedding dress via emailed pictures was less than ideal. I do, however, think I cried just as much from the couch in South Africa as I would have had I actually been in the boutique with you. There was probably less arguing with Mom this way though….
I think I’ve been handling the idea of you getting married pretty well. It’s mostly all excitement with a small mixture of sadness due to missing out on certain events. However, something that I was not expecting occured just the other night. I was sitting at a table here in Middle-of-Nowhere, Cambodia, listening to our host dad give a nightly devotion in Khmer. As I had no idea what he was saying, I began to let my mind wander. Eventually it got to you, the wedding,etc. Once again I thought of how I would have roughly two weeks from the time I get back to the States until your wedding. I was thinking about all of the things we will have to get done in that short amount of time and how we will sleep together every night in the big bed until your wedding day….and then it went something like this: “Sleepovers with my sissy! Last ones before she’s married. Maybe last ones ever. Our relationship will permanently change after this. Oh my gosh….Oh…my….gosh….” And then, TEARS. I sat at the table silently weeping during Cambodian nightly devotions. My teammates, obviously, were very concerned at my random outburst. The only words I could get out to Sam were. “Imagine you had two weeks with Danielle when you get home before your relationship changes forev…” At this point, with tears in her own eyes, she stopped my words and just held me in her arms.
Now, some may think that I’m being entirely too over dramatic here, but the fact of the matter is our relationship will be permanently changed. Come June 14th Landen will officially (and I’m sure he would say finally) have a higher claim to you than I will. He is the person that you will spend the rest of your life with. The person who will share your most intimate joys and heartaches. The person you will go to for your comfort and your happiness. You will no longer be a Gibson girl. You will be a Braxton.
Ok, I think I have crossed the boundary into Drama Queen territory. Go ahead and pass me the tiara. However, I still don’t think Dad should get the monopoly on giving you away, because I’m giving you away too. I’m giving away my sister and best friend. I am also placing you into Landen’s hands that day, trusting that he will be the one to care for you from now on. But as I’m giving you away that day, I will smile through the (inevitable) tears because there are some things that can never, ever change.
You will always be my sister and best friend. You will always be the one I call when Mom and Dad are driving me insane (and vice versa I’m sure). We will still have the occasional sleepover. We will still go on the much anticipated sister’s trip to Disney with Lilly. We will still laugh and cry together. We will always have Ramonja. Your birthday will always be the one month mark until mine. I’m pretty positive you’ll still try to steal my clothes. And as a bonus to me, I will have another brother to love as well.
I miss you TeTe. I can’t wait to get home to you. But until then. Happy Birthday and Happy Wedding Planning! So excited to jump into your arms when I get back.
Jay Z
Love you!
Logan
