Rose - the Younger, the Wiser

My sister Rose is only a year and a half younger than me, but the gap seems wider, as bluntly stated by one of my co-workers, "I thought she was much younger than you!"  I still get a kick out of the statement because it is so unfiltered.  It is true.  It is a fact.  My sister Rose looks much younger than what her age would lead you to believe, and she has done it without the facelift, the butt lift, the boob lift.  She is all natural.  Her regimen and maxims include cross fit exercise and the "you are what you eat" mantra.  But this wasn't always the case...

My sister's birthday was earlier this week.  So it triggered me to wax nostalgic.  I must go back to elementary school, when my frail little sister Rose, with her thin stringy hair, would faint when the temperature was hot.  That was funny back then.  I was a mean kid and meaner older sister growing up, but it was Rose's fragility and short stature that made it open season year round to pick on her.  I recall a funny incident in which our older sister - Peach - and I led Rose to believe we were making her "beautiful" by fixing her hair.  We actually teased all her hair, and it was one big tangle.  Peach and I laughed so hard.  Rose didn't think it was funny.  Too bad we didn't have Instagram back then.  :D

But then payback is a bitch, isn't it?  I think Rose started to pay me back in high school.  I had bad acne, and she laughed and dubbed me "Rocky Mountains."  Rose also managed to be more popular than me in high school.  I was two grades ahead of her, but the kids in my class year knew her better than they knew me.  They hung out with her.  Her short stature must have bamboozled them.   I was an introverted, geeky, nerdy bookworm, focused on getting good grades for college.  Rose must have hoodwinked our parents as well because they seemed to favor her over me, letting her go to school dances while I had to stay home, cook and study.  Something was definitely wrong with that scenario.

Despite the teenaged sibling challenges, we grew close.  I married and had my son CJ.  Rose would hang out with us at times, and she would take CJ with her in her red hot MR2.   She seemed aimless (minimal career or educational aspirations, no steady boyfriend).  We would feed her.  As soon as we arrived home from grocery shopping, we would call Rose.  She ate anything.  The fourth place setting at our dinette was usually for her.

Aside:  I wonder if CJ's good times with his aunt influenced him to buy an MR2 years later.

As I worked and raised my son, I continued my pursuit in academia.  Then Rose herself started to focus on academia -- uh, Vince Academia, that is.  She married the best husband ever. We always tell Rose that if her marriage were to fail, it would be her fault.

When my marriage failed, I felt aimless.  I remember lugging around my worldly possessions in my car, trying to figure out where I would stay.  My sister did not question or even hesitate to offer me a spare room.  At the time Rose was pregnant with Vincent Jr.  She listened and fed me.  I stayed for the next year and a half during which time I observed and realized her powerfully even keeled temperament.  This is her hallmark.

Eventually, I was able to get on my own two feet and buy my own place. After Vincent, Alexis came along almost four years later.  My sister became a stay-at-home mom after a quiet, unassuming career in commercial real estate.  She and Vince also accommodated our parents, around the time our dad started to show early signs of forgetting.  Of all the eight siblings, Rose was the only one who could deal with that and get along with them.  It's her even keel, her maturity, her sanity, her reasonableness that we all know and rely on.  I don't think I could ever match her level.

So when she embarked on the determination to exercise primarily for weight loss, I was a bit puzzled.  It didn't seem reasonable.  To me, my sister looked great and didn't need to lose weight. Then it went beyond that.  Both kids were in karate, and she took cardio kickboxing at the same time.  Soon it was more classes and multiple gym memberships and cross fit and classes in personal training and nutrition.  It seemingly reached the bounds of obsession, and I say this only because I knew how my sister felt before about exercise.  She didn't understand why I would go running and exercise and felt I was wasting my time.  Now it was her turn, but she took it leaps and bounds beyond where I was in staying fit, trim, and energized.

Today Rose is a certified personal trainer and cross fit instructor.  Because of this, her short stature has become irrelevant, meaning we don't tease her as much.  I must say I am so proud of her.  She has been on this health and fitness kick for almost a decade, and she looks amazing.  She was not fond of vegetables before, but now she concocts banana based spinach, grapes, and green apple shakes.  "You are what you eat."  This is her mantra.  She's still a sucker for chocolate occasionally, but her regimen has translated into youthful appearance.  Really, I am not lying.  This was validated a few weeks ago by her own kids, who were poring over decades old pictures I keep in my "shoeboxes."  To them, while everyone looked really young in the pictures, their parents looked the same.  (Yes, Rose bamboozled Vince into quitting smoking before they got married, he is one of her cross fit students, and I'm sure she makes him drink those spinach shakes.)

And her even keel?  That's still there.  That hasn't changed.  We don't always express our feelings, but I'm sure Rose knows how much I love her .  I'm sure she knew about my broken heart when I silently cried over my failed marriage.  I'm sure she knew my deep gratitude for the hospitality during that troubled time and financial woe.  I'm sure she heard my heart scream when she asked me to be one of the godmothers for Vincent.  I'm sure she heard my heart scream even louder when she asked me to be one of Alexis's godmothers.

And I hope she knows that I'll be there for her.  She contributed to my success because she helped shape me into the person I am today.  I try to emulate her every day - the coolness, the even keel.

Just very recently, on Tuesday (I think), my sister touched my heart.  I've been going on all these different adventures with people, including some secret ones.  She said that we needed to go on an adventure and questioned why we have not gone on one.  That is a very good question.

Happy birthday little sister Rose!  I love you!  God has gifted me with an amazing little sister.  I can't wait to see what's in store for us!  Let's go on an adventure...

Time Well Spent

I love days like today when I am so busy with so many things but actually enjoy every minute instead of stressing over things that need to get done.

I woke up fairly early to catch up on some emails.  Soon I was off to pick up my older sister Peach, who lives on the other side of San Jose.  We went to her work and then stopped off at a nearby McDonald's to have breakfast.  I love McDonald's coffee.

We then headed to Fremont to another McDonald's.  I think that is the first time I have ever done a McDonald's to McDonald's Point A to Point B drive in my life!  We picked up some lunch for my nephew Lucas.  He requested a Big Mac. We visited with Lucas, who currently lives in Fremont, for about an hour and a half.

After that, Peach and I went to Westover to pick up my wine club quarterly shipment.  We tasted some wine while we were there.  I love wine.

Soon we were heading back to San Jose.  We decided to stop off at Pho Mai in Milpitas for lunch.  I didn't eat much -- just some chicken wings.  It was cool to see silogs on the menu there.  Restaurants are sometimes interesting when there is cross-culturalism.

After that, my sister and I went to my place so that I could change clothes and practice my script for my video shoot at Stanford University.  That entire exercise was almost 3 hours.  There was football game traffic at Stanford.  That caused only a slight delay.  At least my sister was able to witness what I do for fun when I'm not working.  It was work but it was fun work.

After Stanford, we needed a boost.  So we stopped off at Starbuck's in Milpitas.  We also picked up lotto tickets at the liquor store a couple of doors down from Starbuck's.  Soon, we were heading to the Target at North San Jose, where we shopped for a bit. We then went back to my place so that I could change back to jeans casual.

Were we done?  Almost.  We  then went to Lance and Flo's house warming in Southeast San Jose.  It was also Lance's birthday celebration and one of their son's (Joshua) birthday.  We stuffed our faces with Filipino food, drank Lance's dessert wine (cherry infused), and sang karaoke.  We were the last ones to arrive and the last ones to leave.

Finally, my sister and I were done.  I took her back home, and I just arrived home about an hour ago.  This is a fairly typical Saturday for me.  Thank God for family and friends and events and fun work that keep me out of trouble!