On Her 23rd Year

Tomorrow, 19th of August, is the birthday of my older sister, Grace. I have not prepared any material gift for her, but this special article meant to appreciate her.

Of course, I won't let her read this (Haha!) We are not expressive of affection to each other, and I am sure she'd cringe so much if ever she reads this. In our language, Older sis means "Ate". So, don't be confused if I ever use the title more than once im this special blog.

Ate Grace is pretty. She has beautiful eyebrows, monolid eyes, and complementing nose and lips. What I like most about her is her thick, silky hair. Between us, she has prettier hair that always flows perfectly without much efforts. She has a tall and slim physique, and a fair complexion.

Inside, Ate Grace has an introverted personality—well, all of us three are. But she still has a number of good friends that she can always talk to, and support her fan girling moments. Yes, we are both fans of BTS. I could say she is on a higher level of being a fan than me, though. She buys official and unofficial kpop merch more frequent than me, and rarely misses all of BTS' shows.

At first glance, Ate looks intimidating and hard to approach, but when people get to know her more, they'll realize how much of a bubbly person she is. When she starts talking about something, she really won't stop.

She is a skilled singer. She never sang publicly, but we, her family, enjoyed her free concerts whenever she sings. Among all of us three siblings, I think she has the best voice. I don't really sing well, and so is my brother, (sorry bro, I exposed us. LOL) but Ate Grace has naturally high pitched voice and a nice vibrato. She is top shy to sing in front of people so I never really saw her performing on stage, and I think, I never would. (Though that would be nice).

Ate Grace is a kind daughter. At age eighteen, she started working to help provide for the family. We graduated highschool at the same year, but only I pursued college because it was so hard if we'd both enter university. Only dad has work that time, and younger bro is also studying at highschool.

Because she is a highschool graduate, she worked in different companies with changing shifts at a young age. Even the pay is low, and she got barely for her own, she just worked and became a bread winner alongside dad. I still remember that one job she had where the salary was only $120 per month. But to us, it was a great help already.

I have graduated college two years ago, and is now working to support our family. Dad is just taking work from time to time to help with the finances, but technically, it's just Ate Grace and me now. It has been two years of me working, a total of six years of Ate Grace working, instead of studying. She must be a professional career woman too, if only we could obly afford college.

She is in her latest job for, I think, almost three years now. This job is where she got kidney stones. The nature of the job requires her to wear bunny suits all the time, except short breaks. Drinking water and going to the restroom is not possible because it would just be a hassle.

She is fine now, even we are not sure how is her health exactly (her last checkup is year 2020, as far as I remember). She has a very unhealthy sleep cycles because the shift changes from time to time, and sometimes the days off are once per week only. She also works even on holidays.

Ate Grace is such a hardworking person. She wakes up at 4am when she is on a morning shift, and goes home roughly every 9-10pm. On night shifts, she leaves home at 5pm and arrives tomorrow morning at 9am. If you'd try to comoute the gap within those times, you could see just how very little sleep she gets.

So I could understand why she gets moody. Why she is sometimes irritable and has low patience. Kpop is what makes her happy, and rest days are her delight. As of this writing, she is currently with us because she has no work today, and I am sure she is watching BTS show again.

My older sister has surely went through so much. Her own health problems, the stress from work, lack of adequate rest, and even the burden of supporting the family financially. She has done that since a very young age, and is still doing it until now. She is a real legend.

I've never seen a bread winner submit all of her pay just for family budget and only has some portion for her savings and allowance. She gives the rest to support the family, with no complaints. Who does that these days, right? The usual setting is, the bread winner gives a fixed amount per period whenever she receives her salary. It is not like that in her case, though. And I do the same.

I could write a book on how proud I am of my older sister. She is a great example of a generous member of a family, a cool and supportive sister, and an amazing person overall. What I could only do for her is to pray that she becomes healthy and live a long happy life that she deserves a hundred percent.

To God, I pray that those kidney stones and all other health conditions go away, in Jesus' name. That whatever pain or battle she's struggling with, physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, she will overcome victoriously. Lord, I pray that she will be surrounded with trustworthy people that will make her happy and feel valued. I hope You'll keep her strong and unconquerable no matter what. Please make it possible that all rainbows and flowery path follow through her life's journey, because she has always been so hardworking for the people around her.

For so long, she had no focused time to take care of herself because she had a responsibility to handle at a young age.

Thank you Lord, for giving us such wonderful supportive parents that always take care and support her well.

To my Ate, my best friend, my supportive sissy, protector, chitchat buddy, and beloved family, Advance Happy Birthday! I am sorry I cluld not think of any material thing to give you on your birthday, but I hope my prayers will be heard by God, because I know that those prayers are the best gift for you.

I see better and more prosperous days to come, new beginnings, and better opportunities for you. I also pray that God will lead you to the right path, like how He's continuously lead me to where I am right now. We are not perfect, we sometimes don't meet halfway, but know that I always adore you and look up to you. If ever I could go back again and choose my older sister, I would never hesitate and say your name a hundred times more.

Even if I don't say it always, I love you and you are very beautiful inside and out. Don't ever think you aren't because you are. You are a precious daughter to mom and dad, so please don't be mad whenever they give you pieces of advice and reminders. You are a beloved child of God, so don't hesitate to talk to Him everyday.

Happy Birthday, Ate Grace!

This is an advance greeting for my beloved unnie slash bestfriend, and would you mind if you give her some greetings in the comment section?

I will try to screenshot all of them and send it to her as surprise. I would be really thankful if you would, and I'll make sure to show my gratefulness.

I hope you'd feely my heart poured out in this special blog. Whatever I could earn from it, I actually am planning to useto buy her a gift, if I could think of it. (Haha! Please send some gift ideas as well!)

That would be all, and I hope you have a good and blessed Wednesday everyone. Love y'all. ❤️

Until Next Time!

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• Lead Image from Unsplash.