100th Post! It's All About Sister...

Because we are taking a long weekend, I am posting this early. I actually started putting this post together late last week because I realized that my 100th blog post would also fall on the Friday before our Gayla's birthday weekend. Sister is the reason I really truly started contributing to this blog. It's been cathartic to write what is on my heart (even though I leave a lot of the ugliness out and try to focus on positive--nobody wants to witness an ugly heart--grody!).

Sister would have been 39 on Sunday had she not been stolen away from us this past March. We would have picked at her about having to give up birthdays after this year, or start counting backwards, or, my personal favorite, start having the Nth anniversary of her 39th birthday. Instead, our friends and our family are huddling together to remember the 38 wonderful years we had instead of plan for the future torment of years to come. (Ha! Funny Memory: Gayla helped throw me a NASCAR-themed birthday a couple of years ago and the only black and white checkered flag-type decorations were for an over the hill party theme. Every one kept asking if it was the big 4-0. "Oops!" Gayla said to me when I started to get weepy about it. Oops! Indeed!)

In Monday's post, I asked for your stories about Gayla. Thank you to those who sent me your loving tributes. I will be sure to pass them on to my parents this weekend, and it's never too late for you to share with us! Here are all of my posts for my beautiful and loving Gayla, sister extraordinaire:

• C is for Cheese (April 4, 2011)
• F is for Friend (April 7, 2011)
• G is for Gayla (April 10, 2011)
• H is for Hug (April 11, 2011)
• I is for Ice (April 12, 2011)
• M is for Moore (and Mustard) (April 13, 2011)
• O is for Open (April 18, 2011)
• P is for Peace (April 19, 2011)
• Q is for Qat (April 20, 2011)
• R is for Roses (April 21, 2011)
• S is for Sister (April 22, 2011)
• U is for Unique (April 2011)
• V is for Vacation (April 2011)
• Z is for Zinnober (April 2011)
• A is for Angel (May 1, 2011)
• B is for Ballet (May 2, 2011)
• Beaches (May 3, 2011)
• Sunflowers (May 10, 2011)
• Praying (May 10, 2011)
• Wishing (May 11, 2011)
• Fear (May 12, 2011)
• "Reading" Club (May 13, 2011)
• A Few of Her Favorite Things (May 16, 2011)
• "Laughter Through Tears is my FAVORITE Emotion" (May 17, 2011)
• The Pits (May 18, 2011)
• 1972 (May 19, 2011)
• Space Mountain (May 20, 2011)
• "You're either the Gas or the Brake" (May 26, 2011)
• Greeting Cards (June 8, 2011)
• Passing Down Memories (June 21, 2011)
• I Carry MyGayla Everywhere I Go (July 2, 2011)
• R.T.C.S.I! (July 6, 2011)
• The Greatest Gift (July 13, 2011)
• It's A Harry Thing (July 14, 2011)
• Calling All Friends (July 18, 2011)
• Calling All Friends (Follow-Up Part 2) (July 19, 2011)
• Write on Wednesdays--Facebook Status (July 20, 2011)
• Buttons, Threads and Needles (July 21, 2011)
• What Would You Do If I Were You? (July 25, 2011)
• Write on Wednesdays--The Clocked Winked (August 3, 2011)
• Red Dress Friday (August 5, 2011)
• Not Marveling the Monday (August 8, 2011)
• Write on Wednesdays--Character Development (August 10, 2011)
• Birthdays (August 15, 2011)