First, check out this incredible article my sister wrote about her experience with Whole 30 here.  She has awesome insight.

But I really wanted to write about how grateful I am for her in general…she has been on my mind constantly lately.  She has become my rock especially in the last few years since our mom passed away – even though she is my younger sister, I have come to rely on her for the support I used to go to my mom for and she gives it to me without complaint ever.

When I was in labor with A, I pretty much live-texted her the whole time every detail (leaving her horrified).  She flew across the country a couple of weeks later to spend time with us and she has had such a special bond with A ever since.  She recently came to meet baby C and this was when he was 4 weeks old and pretty much the height of my sleep deprivation.  The whole week she was here, I talked about nothing but sleep.  I was so exhausted, and literally obsessed.  And she just listened!  One night she held him for 3 hours and I slept those 3 hours – the first 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep I had since he was born.  I don’t know if she understands how much that meant to me, but I will never forget her generosity that trip.  We no longer are the sisters who fight over who gets to use AOL Instant Messenger; we never fight anymore because I simply don’t know what I would do without her.

So even though 3000 miles separate us, she is one of the most important people in my “village.”  And it certainly does take a village, doesn’t it?