My sister

Today is my sister Lucy's 22nd birthday! Happy birthday, Luce! Here are some of my favorite memories and thoughts about Lucy Clark McCann (with a contribution by Greg below)...

• I remember playing with Greg one day and Mama stopping us, saying she had something important to tell us. She stood in the doorway to the living room and said that we were going to have a new baby. I vaguely remember thinking, "Uh, OK. You made us stop playing for that?" (I'm sure my excitement grew when Lucy actually arrived.)
• I don't remember too much about Lucy's baby years (except what I'm reminded of by watching home videos), but Mama tells me that she would let me "play" with infant Lucy in my room by myself. I was 6. I think I mostly just talked to her and showed her things while she was on the floor.
• Lucy and I shared a room when we lived in Lake Forest (from when she was 2 to 6 and when I was 8 to 12). These were some extremely cute years for Lucy. I remember her dressing up a lot and speaking to anyone and everyone who would listen. Anyway, sharing a room was fun.
• One of little Lucy's favorite things to do was dress up in one of my old tap dance costumes and dance (move for move) to the home video of my dance recital. Mama says she would rewind the video--sometimes to well before the dance recital part--and Lucy would stand completely still in the first pose of the dance (one hand on hip, one hand in the air), waiting for it to come on.
• Lucy began horseback riding when we lived in Massachusetts (I think she was about... 9 or 10?). I remember being proud of her for doing her own thing and getting better and better at it. She continued riding after we moved to CA, and I would often pick her up at the barn in San Juan after she worked and rode.
• During the summer when I was about 17 and Lucy was 11, she and I would go to Lake Mission Viejo together. We'd swim around and "lay out" and just have a nice time. I never felt like I was doing a favor or babysitting or something; I was just hanging out with my sis.
• Apparently, Lucy's voice and my voice are very similar, especially on the phone. When Jon and I were dating and he called our house, he very often mistakenly said, "Hey babe" to Lucy if she answered. I think it got to the point where she would respond, "Hey babe" back to him. I realized how extremely similar our voices are when I heard a lengthy recording of myself talking (back when I recorded Nate's IEP meeting with the school). It was eerie--I couldn't believe not only how similar our actual voices are, but also how our inflections and word pronunciations are the same too.
• A phrase that describes Lucy well is that she always just does her own thing. She doesn't care much for trends or what everyone else is doing. When it comes to clothing, if she likes it, she wears it (although that penchant for jackets must be costly).
• Some other great Lucy qualities: she is very "go with the flow," she can be silly, she is smart, she is a hard worker, and she has strong values.
• I'm so excited about the woman of God Lucy has become. There is a reason we chose to name our daughter Lucy, and it wasn't just because we liked the sound of the name!

Here are Greg's thoughts (get a tissue ready):

When I think about Lucy, my favorite thing to think about is what kind of a person she has turned out to be. When our family lived in California, as Lucy wrote for my birthday, Lucy was known as little McCann. She was my little sister. Since we moved to Virginia and Lucy went to high school here, Lucy naturally knows more people and families in town than I do. Our roles completely reversed--I became Lucy's older brother. We have been here close to 6 years and still to this day I get introduced or meet someone and they know me through Lucy. I am always so proud to be known as her older brother. Lucy has grown up to be the sweetest, kindest, and outright most amazing woman I have ever known. When Lucy tells you something, you know she means every word from the bottom of her heart. Every time I think about Lucy, I smile because I still think of her as "Little Lucy," but in reality she has completely grown up into an amazing person. Lucy is everything anybody would want out of a friend, sister, daughter, and for some lucky guy, a wife! I love you Lucy! I can't wait to see you in a week! Happy Birthday!!!