My sister is a head taller than I.——青夏教育精英家教网—

     On Saturday, February 12 two thousand, two things happened that changed everything in my life. The
first was that on this day my baby sister was married. She was twenty-six this day, and yet to me she
was still my baby sister. I suppose that I pictured her as a little girl, and treated her like one in order to
hold onto and preserve my own youth. Until I saw her in her wedding dress I still had a vision of her with
chubby little cheeks and long, dark-brown pigtails (马尾辫子) blowing in the wind, perhaps even a
permanent smudge of chocolate around her pink lips. I guess it's true that you see only what you want to
see. Where did this beautiful woman with the glowing complexion (皮肤) and gentle curves (身体曲线)
come from?
     I was happy that day, and also sad. Gone were the days of me bossing her around and telling her
what she should do with her life. My bossy behavior had earned me the nickname Lucy. If you are a
Peanuts fan then you can clearly imagine my behavior as an older sister. To me it wasn't an insult; I rather
like the nickname Lucy. I happen to think that Lucy is strong and has incredible self-confidence, although
she is a little overbearing (专横的) at times. I did my best to live up to the standards set forth by this
dynamic cartoon character.
     I left the reception to get some air because suddenly I was overcome with grief at the realization
that I was no longer a child. I went outside and walked to a nearby playground where there were
children playing on the slide, the swings and digging in the dirt. There was a little girl twirling around on a
bar, one knee wrapped tightly around the bar and fashioned behind her knee. It was all I could do to sit
there and just watch, for I too wanted to get on that bar with her and see if I could still hold the all-time
twirling record (ninety-nine times in fifth grade). Somewhere inside I knew that I would break my neck,
and I was wearing a bridesmaid dress. Not exactly playground material. And so I sat watching the
children play. I'm not sure how long I sat there before my sister came and joined me. We talked about
how we are grown up now and shed a few tears for our childhood days gone by. As she wiped a tear
from my eye she lovingly said, "you'll always be Lucy to me." We hugged.
     My cousin Mike walked over and told my sister that it was time to cut the cake. And then he
dropped bomb number two on me. "Hey, did you guys hear that Charles Schultz died today?" He said it
like it was no big deal. He took my sister's arm and turned to head back for the reception hall.
"Coming?" They asked. "In a minute." I replied, and sat back down on the bench, dizzy from what he had
just told me.
     Dead? How could Charles Schultz be dead? He was my creator! And though I have never met the
man personally, he has always been like an invisible father to me. He did, after all, fashion a famous
character after me. I lost so many things on this day. Innocence slipped away from me like a thief in the
night: come and gone before I could do anything about it, taking with it all the treasures that I held most
valuable in my heart. I felt myself grow up, all in one moment. Reality rushed in around me like a hurricane
tide. There was nowhere to run to. All I could do was sit there and watch it destroy and reshape what
had existed only a moment before. I was no longer a child. I was no longer Lucy who knew what was
best for everyone else. I saw, for the first time, what I really was—a thirty-year old woman with a
husband of my own, and soon, a child of my own.
     I allowed the tide to carry my sadness out with it. Take it out to sea, for it serves no purpose in my
life. I stood up from the bench; a little taller than I was when I sat down. I turned and headed back to
the hall, hoping I didn't miss the cutting of the cake. It was the day my sister grew wings of her own and
left the nest. It was the day that Lucy died, and I was born.

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