Recognition of Thanks

" Hey, you! Are you Alyssa's sister?"

"Yes."

This is what I hear every time I meet one of my sister's acquaintances. Hearing this so often has made me believe that people expect me to be just like a mini-version of her.

"Did you hear Alyssa's performance? Wasn't it beautiful? Alyssa is so talented, don't you agree?"

" Yes, it was. The best she has ever played. She gets better and better."

I smile and laugh. I agree and nod my head. Alyssa is very talented in many ways and she deserves to be recognized for her talent. However inside my thoughts are running in chaos. "What about me? Did you even listen to me play? What do you think? Was I good enough to be praised?"

At home, when I play the piano. After finishing a piece, hands limp, wrists numb, sweating, instead of hearing "Good job! You play so well!" I hear "Wow, who is playing? Alyssa, is that you?"

Every time I try to shine, my polish gets clouded by the fingerprints of my sister's success. I love Alyssa so much and, yes, she is very smart, talented, outstanding, and much more, but what am I? Am I good enough to be recognized for my own talent, for my own success?

Some days I wish that I could just be known for who I am as an individual and not for just being related to my amazing sister. I love my sister very much and I always look up to her for advice and help of things that my friends or parents can't provide. I am thankful for having someone to look up to, to relate to, to vent and spill my problems or spill "The Tea" to. My sister is my role model, and I can learn from her mistakes and succeed from her success. But, I all I want sometimes is to just be "Xxx" and not "Alyssa's little sister." I want to be recognized as my own being and not just a "thing" related to Alyssa. Even though I am constantly compared to my sister, as we have gotten older, Alyssa and I have become closer.

I have so many fond memories with her. Sitting at the piano, sharing the bench, four hands one piano, playing in unison, creating a melody and harmony floating in the air, echoing in the house. Walking, talking, holding hands, creating a story of old teachers that we disliked, laughing, letting the happiness take over our bodies. Identical smiles on our faces as we hid the candy wrappers, giggling and eyeing each other as our mom walks away after checking on us. We would stay up late into the night, trading funny stories, listening to music onAlyssa's mp3 player, playing hangman, cuddling together fighting off the cold. Being shaken awake early in the morning, sneaking downstairs to make my parents a special Saturday breakfast. Skiing down the runs on Mt.Hood, trying to beat each other to the lift line. As we grew older, we talked less, though whenever we had the rare chance to have a "sleepover" in my sister's room, our conversations started to shift from funny stories to real-life advice. No matter what we talked about, I love spending time with Alyssa. Now, she is already a junior in high school and soon going to be leaving for college. Even though there is still almost two years left, time flies by and before I know it, she will be off to the east coast or even farther.

I love you my sister, my best friend, my role model, my 姐姐, my Alyssa. Thank you for always being there, or helping me, for letting me learn from your mistakes and succeeding from your successes. I hope that in the future we get to spend even more time together, and thank you for everything that you have taught me and for always being there for me.
Big Sister Quotes
Sister Quotes