Or your amazing brother, etc.

I am so grateful for my sister, and for the ways we are different. Gawd help us all if we all had non-pragmatgic brains like me. She has been here a week, painting my kitchen cabinets. Doing it absolutely according to best practice recommendations. It is a huge job. I have helped some this weekend, but she has, and will continue to do 95% of the work. She'll be here another 2 or 3 days finishing the top cabinets, then back in another week or two for another week or 1 1/2 weeks to finish the bottom cabinets. In between waiting for coats to dry she fixes light switches that are worn out, puts up towell racks in the bathroom, seals cracks in the mortar in the foundation, installs molding around windows to finish a job a contractor ran out on, etc.

2 years ago she built a shed for me in her garage in Maryland, disassembled it, put it on her trailer, hauled it 350 miles to my house, and we spent the weekend putting it back together.

Last time she was here she fixed faucets, moved my heavy, large capacity frontloader washer with dryer stacked on top that is wedged into an outdoor closet on the carport and properly connected the vent pipe from the dryer, which the Sears guys had done a poor job of 3 years ago and wich meant the closet was coated in lint. Has been a lint-free closet ever since. She also finished putting up the molding around a window I had enlarged when I moved here and the guy who did the siding and windows disappeared before the job was finished, AND cleaned the window! (unfortunately, a day later a bluebird of happiness slammed into the window - the bird survived, but knocked the "happiness" right out of itself and onto the newly cleaned window.) Dare I clean the happy bluebird crap off, or will I jinx this house in doing so:>)

She brought down left over bluestone rock this trip from a project at her house to be used to create a stone path from my shed to the carport to get our feet out of the pretty bare shady area where grass doesn't want to grow and what grass there is very fragile from lack of sun, and is nearly worn away from the foot traffic from the shed. Not to mention enough bark mulch left over from her own garden projects to allow me to mulch 2 garden beds.

During other trips she has laid down plastic sheeting as a vapor barrier in my crawl space, cut down trees, trimmed dead limbs, built raised beds, etc., etc., etc.

I sits and thinks. She DOES! She knows how to DOES. I don't have much "how to" sense. She is brimming with it.

And she actually enjoys doing these things and learning new practical skills as she goes along. She has saved me thousands of dollars doing home repairs and home improvements - except that most of them would go undone if she didn't come and do them.

I don't ask her to do these things. I don't expect her to do them. She is simply a combination of a practical thinker and a generous spirit. Not to mention one heck of a musician. I get the added bonus when I get home late from the clinic of listening to her practice on her fiddle in rhythms that work for my physical therapy exercises!

During the year of my Dad's final illness, she was a godsend to Mom and Dad in terms of the instrumental and pragmatic assistance and direction she gave, which has been detailed elsewhere.

I am in awe of her generous willingness to share her gifts. She doesn't half realize how truly competent, generous and amazing she is.

All I know is she makes a real difference in my life, and in the lives of many others.

In terms of my family of origin, I was absolutely born lucky.

Some few of you know my darlin' sister. And many more of you are likely to have your own darlin' sisters and brothers who make a huge difference in your lives in any number of ways.

My sister Annie is a Star!

Sing the praises here of the Stars in your own life!