my sister anne is 28, three years my senior. she and her husband, ryan, got married in july of 2005. when they got engaged, she called me, woke me up and broke the news with an excited bluntness that i can still hear. however, she woke me up and i was therefore unable to accurately express my excitement and congratulations.
i don't remember the exact day of the next important call, but it was some time december? january? regardless, i was asleep. and in the late morning light, my phone proclaimed 'sister' was calling to tell me she was pregnant.
i was able to be a little more convincing with my excitement, this time.(i hope.)
the next question was: how will we tell mom and dad?
ryan's parents were told by the waitress at the chinese restaurant where they were having dinner. anne and ryan couldn't get a hold of them and ryan's brother brett proclaimed they should call the restaurant. 'congratulations. you will be grandparents.' 'what?! who ARE you?' that's how i remember the exchange as relayed to me.
anne and i deliberated for awhile. we tossed around interpretive dance, songs, poems, performance art, etc.
we opted for a hiaku, penned by anne herself.
i wrote it on one of my drawing pads, gathered them both in the living room wearing my swimcap from christmas.
i had anne on the phone, turned on the video function on my camera and asked mom and dad to read the poem written, as i flipped the pages. it went like this:
a sprout from the soil
tender leaves unfurl for light
autumn brings new life
at which point mom stopped reading and said 'NO!'
the next page read 'congratulations grandma and grandpa'
last page: 'anne and ryan are having a baby!'
at which point i yelled 'YAY' and threw the hand made confetti from my pocket.
it was pretty ridiculous. and awesome.
anne heard the whole thing and got to see the video later.
mom and pop: over the moon.
next chapter: vegas!
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