related by blood

i’d like to take a moment to write about something positive and great before we break for the weekend.

do you have a sibling? do you have a (or a few) sibling(s) you adore and are so proud of? if so, then this is the post for you!

i have one darling younger sister. in age we really are not all that far apart – just shy of 2 years. but since she is the younger sister, the baby of the family, i have always considered her to be… well, the baby of the family. she turned 25 in december, but in my mind’s eye i still think of her as a cute 15 year old. by the way, she’s still really cute. the girl was blessed with dimples after all.

i don’t know about your family, but in my family one of us was the better student. yeah, me, the quintessential older child. my sister’s talents and interest laid elsewhere, mostly in the art realm, where my exceptionally practical parents believed no one could make a lucrative living out of. even though they were artists themselves, go figure. my sister had some struggles throughout her school days, but she nevertheless graduated from college with aplomb. she even got a minor in classical studies. i had no minor. and now even though she doesn’t have, in the words of our mother, “a real job,” i think that she is doing something extraordinary for a girl her age.

back in college, my sister’s desire was to major in photography. well, unfortunately (or fortunately?) her style did not resonate with the photography department’s expectations so she was not accepted. nonetheless, i think that rejection only strengthened her resolve to do what she wanted to do. dang it, they were not going to tell her that her photographs were not good! that she had no future as a bona fide photographer! this is called stubbornness at work, or, picking yourself up when you’re down, something i am not so adept at. the lady scrimped and saved and got her very own professional canon SLR, took up a market-dependent therefore very unstable job as a photographer’s assistant and started to learn the ropes while earning steady money at a restaurant and now as a barista. last year she partnered up with a fellow art student from college and ventured out in the wide world to start their own business: imprints photography, LLC. website forthcoming.

as a kid, i knew my sister looked up to me. it’s just what younger siblings do. but now i am the one looking up to her. this girl did not let the UW photography department defeat her, which it very well could have done. it’s so easy to sit around and talk and daydream about owning your own business, being your own boss. hell, it’s easy to sit around and talk and daydream period. but to actually go out there and act and take that plunge, that risk is more than admirable. i sit around and watch her and her partner mya (who also has a day job) having business meetings, pouring over ideas, photos, researching, budgeting, taking classes and planning and it fills me with awe and pride at how these two girls are intersecting their real world with their dream world.

so even though i’m the one making big bucks compared to her, she is the one who really followed her heart and was courageous enough to do so. and while it does not mean that she doesn’t have her own set of QCC woes, she’s definitely taking a big step in the right direction. i am excited to see where this road takes her. success story #1. i’m certain there are countless others. share!

oh and if you ever need a photographer, i know two very talented ones.