a role model, a teacher and a bumble-bee extraordinaire

there is nobody in this world that loves life more than my sister, annie. she is my hero, my role model and my inspiration - and i mean that literally. she has taught me what it means to embrace what you're given, live fully, and love and appreciate even the smallest things.

her love of life extends from day-to-day things, like the bus ride to school with the same aid for the past 10 years and coffee at trader joe's, to special events, like family trips and holidays. while she certainly enjoys all holidays, there are two in particular that she adores most. one is her shared birthday with julia, her twin sister and best friend in the world. she specifically loves when we sing "happy birthday," which we repeat over and over to the sound of her jubilant squeals of laughter and happiness. the other is halloween.

annie happens to be a creature of habit. when she finds something she likes, she sticks to it. needless to say, when she set her mind on being a bumble bee at the age of 4, it worked, and she has stuck to this successful formula for the past 11 years.

then (4 years old):

now (15 years old):

clearly, annie's love of halloween has not diminished with time and i'm grateful for that since i can't imagine anything better or more inspiring than seeing a smile so genuine, so real and so joyful. that's because, at the end of the day, halloween isn't about candy or trick-or-treating or even really dressing up for annie. she loves halloween because it encompasses all the things annie cherishes most in life: her family, engagement with the world, excitement, tradition, energy, generosity, laughter, action and the creation of wonderful and lasting memories. although annie can't express those sentiments in words, her smile says it all.