Pronto. My time in O Refúgio do Amanhecer is almost up. Tomorrow (sexta-feira), at 16.05 I will be speeding along the runway before the nose pulls up and the plane slowly rises off the ground, spins around, and points itself in the direction of London Heathrow. I've been here for about six months (in fact, my time has spanned 6 months - January, February, March, April, May and June - but hasn't quite been a six month duration) and it feels very weird to be leaving. This has become a home for me, in a way; in England I have nowhere to act as home since our house is being rented at the moment. It's an odd feeling to leave somewhere foreign that has so quickly become so familiar, to return to a place once so familiar which will now feel foreign... almost.
Thank you, here and now, from the bottom of my heart, to those who have read continuously, those who have prayed, those who have sent stuff, and just generally supported me. It's been really great. Muito obrigado!
From plunging my entire arm into gutters, to mowing the lawn with a glorified strimmer; from playing footy to running; from laying cement to laying flowers; from weeks of rain to weeks of scorching sun; from eating too much food to giving out food on the streets; from losing money to being given donations; moving along in faith and discipline with times of struggling in the middle, making new friends and family along the way; from England to Portugal, this has been a trip I will not forget. God has moved in me and spoken to me in a way I wasn't expecting. I have learnt a lot, read a lot, loved a lot, and been loved even more. I have focussed, I have become structured (or at the very least, more so than before), I have slipped up and I have had to face the consequences. I've got back up, I've continued. I have grown in my relationship with my beautiful girlfriend as well, and feel far closer to her now than ever before, despite being over 1700 miles away. I've even got myself a tasty tan, and have built my muscles, if I'm being utterly shallow.
Rubén and Loida threw a Barbie for me at their house last night. There was a lot of food (in honour of me, he said), and beer, and it was a lot of good fun. It was such a nice way to be thanked.
It's been fun, it's been hard. It's been relaxing, it's been tiring. It's been for me, it's been for them. Will I be back? You bet'cha!
Até já, todos. Vou a ter saudades por esta local, mas vou de voltar quando posso. É incrível.
Já está. Adeus.
Thursday 11 June 2009
Tuesday 9 June 2009
Another Weekend
That's right. I spent another weekend over in Porto with Bill and Tina and Riverside Porto Church. We had a Barbeque on Saturday afternoon - luckily the sun came out for us despite having thrown down a lot of rain in the morning. Lots of absolutely splendid meats and salads and puddings on offer. Lots of great people - many faces I already knew, and many new people (especially people from the America Club). I even went for a swim in the pool! Until I got attacked by Caleb and Emily, two little kids. What is with that, eh? Sunday was nice and relaxing - late wake up, read some of 'The Shack' (but didn't manage to finish...), had comfort food in front of the Turkish Grand Prix (what's with Jason Button doing so well these days?) and then had a great meeting in the evening. Played the djembe again in the band, Bill gave another good message on Romans 7, and then Anna-Theresa and I were 'sent out' and prayed for at the end. She's going to Brazil for a couple of months to do some mission work with a youth charity out there, then going to Hiedelburg, Germany to study Law. Muito fixe. Being 'sent out' by Riverside was odd though - I was also prayed for by the Submerge community in Guildford back in January (thanks guys!) and now being sent back from a church I've barely been a part of. What a community!
On Monday I planned to go to Lisboa for the day with Sofia and her friend who had come up for the weekend and was going back that morning. Unfortunately, we arrived at Campanhã station at 10am to find the next train was at 10.52 arriving at Lisboa at 14.00. I thought it would be a bit of a waste, as I'd have had to get a train back at 4 or 5pm in order to be back at the Refuge not too late. So, instead, Sofia and I spent the morning in Porto. I found this really refreshing - it's been a while since I've walked around the place. We went to the Palacio de Crystal and walked around the gardens which were lovely, before walking down to Ribeira for lunch (cachorros especiais - like a francesinhas but in hotdog form). Seeing the run down houses and the dirty streets once again reminded me how much Porto has expanded beyond what it could manage well, and has left many poor people. I felt once more the feelings of excitment, pain, passion and care for the city - it was very refreshing. I feel more than ever that God wants me here - I don't know for how long, or when, but I've got an idea as to what. It's exciting.
The entrance to the school
An array of monks, nuns, crusaders, peasants, farmers, beggars and even belly dancers!
Typical cockerels for sale. Very Portuguese.
Foi o aniversário do Marcos no sexta passada. E porque fui no horário da noite, jugámos o jogo do chocolate, e o jogo com maçás na agua. Encantaram-o :) (It was Marcos's birthday last Friday. And because I was on shift for the night, we played the chocolate game and apple bobbing. They loved it :)) Agora, tem 10 anos.
Playing Pear Bobbing on Marcos' Birthday
Acho que tenho mais um blog que logo vou a compartilhar aqui. É uma pena; meu tempo quase acabou :(
(Também, I am horrified to hear the BNP got not only one, but TWO seats in the Euro Elections. Come on, chaps! What's going on?!)
On Monday I planned to go to Lisboa for the day with Sofia and her friend who had come up for the weekend and was going back that morning. Unfortunately, we arrived at Campanhã station at 10am to find the next train was at 10.52 arriving at Lisboa at 14.00. I thought it would be a bit of a waste, as I'd have had to get a train back at 4 or 5pm in order to be back at the Refuge not too late. So, instead, Sofia and I spent the morning in Porto. I found this really refreshing - it's been a while since I've walked around the place. We went to the Palacio de Crystal and walked around the gardens which were lovely, before walking down to Ribeira for lunch (cachorros especiais - like a francesinhas but in hotdog form). Seeing the run down houses and the dirty streets once again reminded me how much Porto has expanded beyond what it could manage well, and has left many poor people. I felt once more the feelings of excitment, pain, passion and care for the city - it was very refreshing. I feel more than ever that God wants me here - I don't know for how long, or when, but I've got an idea as to what. It's exciting.
Most incredible bookshop: Livrario Lello
The view across to Gaia from Palacio de Crystal€
I had a go at cutting the grass with the machine, finally. Got the hang of it after a while, so that was good. I didn't feel so useless. Then the lady came back, took over from me, and was so much quicker. I followed behind, raking and chucking the cut grass. Agora parece muito mais bonita :) I guess the biggest news now though, is that the men had laid the astroturf for the footy pitch! Não estou a brincar! Finalmente - é fantástico! All the gree grass, white lines and yellow basketball lines are out. The sand is being laid (well, not right now, because it's raining...) and then 'as balizas' (the goals) will be put in place. It's dead exciting! A new access ramp will be made up to the pitch, so I had to cut some of the vines that were in the way. Look out for photos on the way... Não posso esperar de jugar o primeiro jogo nesta campo.
The beginning...
Middle...
More middle...
And end of the footy pitch creation!
Tambem, foi Feira Medieval no sexta. Fantástico! Todos as escolas estavam ali. Amazing time. All the children of all ages (3 years old to 30 years old and more!) were dressed up in medieval clothes. There were monks, nuns, crusaders, knights, peasants, beggars, farmers, belly-dancers (no, I don't know either), jesters and clowns, and more. What a sight! We all collected in Termas, a nearby town, and then paraded from there to a school a couple of kilometres away, people lining the streets, cheering from the balconies and dancing alongside. It was amazing. At the school we were greeted with a huge maypole, and loads of medieval type stalls selling shoes, medicines, food, a Taberna and even live animals ! Great show.
And end of the footy pitch creation!
The entrance to the school
An array of monks, nuns, crusaders, peasants, farmers, beggars and even belly dancers!
Typical cockerels for sale. Very Portuguese.
Playing Pear Bobbing on Marcos' Birthday
Acho que tenho mais um blog que logo vou a compartilhar aqui. É uma pena; meu tempo quase acabou :(
(Também, I am horrified to hear the BNP got not only one, but TWO seats in the Euro Elections. Come on, chaps! What's going on?!)
Monday 1 June 2009
Dia Mundial da Crianças
It's that time of year again, folks! Mar and I found out the other night that yesterday was International Children's Day! Very exciting. Mar had a brainwave - to decorate the house to surprise the children when they woke up! We started at about 9.30pm, finishing at 2am last night - I had no idea we'd spent so long! I made a big banner saying 'Feliz Dia das Crianças: Vocês são especiales!' with the kids names and various pictures. Mar and I printed out a bunch of 'Madagascar', 'Bolt', 'Cars' and general kid pictures and Mar mounted them and wrote little messages like, 'Somos um equipo FIXE!' ('We are a cool team!'), giving each of the characters a name of the children here. We then found some fabric markers and unused t-shirts and made them all a unique t-shirt with encouraging words like, 'Sou numero 1!', 'Sou muito fixe!', and 'Sou um rapaz estupendo!' They loved that. The rule is they had to wear it all day - they didn't mind. We then stumbled across a bunch of Disney character masks, so we gave those to them with their breakfast (which included sweets and chocolate). We also found a couple of wigs, which Mar and I wore and painted our faces before putting 'I like to move it move it!' at full volume on and waking the children up by dancing and jumping and singing and making a heck of a racket! Brilliant! The kids were blurry eyed and confused at first, but soon were beaming, grinning, dancing, singing, shouting, and being very kiddish. Enjoy these photos and video!
Our Efforts... My Banner! Joel...
Left to right (back rown, then middle, then front): Nelson; Dinora; Marcos; me; Jorge; Joel; Miguel; Paulo.
Fabio...chump :) I like to move it move it! Marcos tucking in.
Paulo is outrageously cute, though a crying machine.
Gobble gobble. Miguel Paulo
Here's us, dancing. Sorry about the lack of sound - I don't have the best camera...
Our Efforts... My Banner! Joel...
Left to right (back rown, then middle, then front): Nelson; Dinora; Marcos; me; Jorge; Joel; Miguel; Paulo.
Fabio...chump :) I like to move it move it! Marcos tucking in.
Paulo is outrageously cute, though a crying machine.
Gobble gobble. Miguel Paulo
Here's us, dancing. Sorry about the lack of sound - I don't have the best camera...
Primavera e flors de Pascoa
This is very late, I know, but I've finally got photos up. Here's Angeles, an amazing woman from Mallorca who was here for about a month, doing a little leaving thing for the children before she left, back in April. We had a little Spring party where we all dressed up, and she talked about the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5 vv 22-26 if you like to read them). Above you can see Dinora writing one of the Fruits, on one of the fruits!
I also had to clean up around the footy pitch, making it look nicer. (Now, grass and a few weeds have grown, which is utterly demorilising, but it doesn't look too bad.) Here are a few wild flowers I found growing around the place. Isn't it amazing what grows on broken and disturbed ground? (I'm on deviantart.com, and having not been online for a while in April, I was greeted by an array and somewhat of an explosion of Spring flowers when I last went on - a thousand different colours, shades, shapes and sizes. All beautiful. All indivisually created. Lovely.
It's now well and truly summer; I hear the UK is getting some delightful weather, too! It makes work very, very hot indeed. Enjoy the beaches everyone!
xxx
Saturday 30 May 2009
Saída
I've now watched three different people leave since April. Each time it leaves an odd feeling inside. First Angeles back in the middle of April, then Toni about a week ago, and now Susy.
***
We stand in the drive, hugging, saying goodbye, stumbling over Spanish and English alike, laughing, some tears. They get in the car, the engine starts, we're still yelling 'Adios!' and waving manically as the car reverses, then drives off, we wave a bit more, even when the cars out of sight. And that's it. Susy's gone. (Toni's gone. Angeles' gone.)
So, maybe I exaggerate a little. No tears. And it was just me left standing in the drive. It happened at 8am - others were sleeping and had said goodbyes yesterday, and Rubén and Mar obviously said goodbye inside. Dinora was waving from her window.
But Susy's gone. She won't even be out of Portugal yet.
Every time someone leaves, the Refuge feels empty. I guess now, since Susy was here since three days before I arrived, it feels even more so. I'm starting to see a little bit of how the children must feel each time someone comes and goes. I made a great friend, had great times, adventures, experiences with Susy that I won't forget.
Faltam menos que duas semanas para mim. Quase acabou.
***
We stand in the drive, hugging, saying goodbye, stumbling over Spanish and English alike, laughing, some tears. They get in the car, the engine starts, we're still yelling 'Adios!' and waving manically as the car reverses, then drives off, we wave a bit more, even when the cars out of sight. And that's it. Susy's gone. (Toni's gone. Angeles' gone.)
So, maybe I exaggerate a little. No tears. And it was just me left standing in the drive. It happened at 8am - others were sleeping and had said goodbyes yesterday, and Rubén and Mar obviously said goodbye inside. Dinora was waving from her window.
But Susy's gone. She won't even be out of Portugal yet.
Every time someone leaves, the Refuge feels empty. I guess now, since Susy was here since three days before I arrived, it feels even more so. I'm starting to see a little bit of how the children must feel each time someone comes and goes. I made a great friend, had great times, adventures, experiences with Susy that I won't forget.
Faltam menos que duas semanas para mim. Quase acabou.
Sunday 24 May 2009
Sun, grass, footy, astro and wine.
It's been a fortnight since my last post. So, what exactly HAVE I been doing?, I hear you call. Let me answer...
This and that. Getting into some good disciplines (well, not just these past two weeks, but the whole time I've been here), soaking up some sun, and having a brilliantly English Weekend.
My work has consisted of cutting grass for various reasons. Sometimes just to make the place look pretty. But one of the biggest patches was to stop snakes hiding. Yes, I was filled with joy upon hearing, "We need you to cut the grass by the footy pitch because the snakes hide in there". Great.
English classes have been non-existent this week. I think all the teenagers have done their English tests for school - I just hope I've helped them a little bit! They seemed to get some sort of a grip on whatever we went through (despite the fact they hated doing the classes, just how I felt doing my French tuition classes...).
I guess the biggest news since Friday is the fact that the astro-turf for the new pitch has FINALLY ARRIVED! It was very very exciting. A big lorry, followed by a lot of waiting around for another lorry to be brought with an arm because the first lorry wouldn't fit up the track up to the pitch. Then, five burly men and myself heaved 10 massive rolls of astro-turf off the lorry onto the ground, then strapped them onto the crane one by one to be taken up to the top. Now they're all lying messily by the entrance to the pitch awaiting another machine to come and lay them. Oh, please come tomorrow! It's so bloomin' exciting! Gave my muscles a good work out, too.
I've been 'running' with Jorge and whoever else wants to come this past fortnight, too. I say 'running', because it starts off as a run and quickly turns into a walk, then a slow walk with frequent stops, followed by short and odd bursts of running (after much nagging from me). And that's on a good day. Bad days will hardly start with a run, have a lot of complaining, and much pushing of Jorge by me to make him move at all. I do it as a difference from football, and everytime he says "Aidan lets go running!" and then doesn't run! Why say you want to go running and then complain, Jorge?! I know, it's because he's unfit, but he can't surely be serious when he's not done any running at all and uses the excuse 'Tenho cansado' (I'm tired) when I nag him to run?!
Played a wicked game of footy with Rubén, Joel, Marcos, Miguel, Fabio, Nelson, Goto and João on Wednesday night. Pure gold. It was the teenagers, Miguel and me against Rubén, Fabio, Joel and Marcos. They won, 18-14 or something. Mental. Football with Jorge, Marcos, Miguel and Joel (pequenho) has not been so fun recently (hence the running instead) with arguments, fouls and fights breaking out (usually involving Joel - his temper is bad!) frequently. I have to be an actual referee. Unbelievable.
There's been a lot of sunshine recently, too, until this weekend. It has been nice and hot. Delightful.
What was that? Did I hear someone ask what is this discipline I'm on about?
Well, it's me getting into structures, disciplines, making sure I'm really putting effort into God rather than just sitting back and letting Him happen around me. Put something into the Relationship for it to come out of me. I'm loving my quiet times (though thinking I'll have to do some BEFORE lunch, because I keep falling asleep after lunch...), putting my iPod on the 'Worship' playlist on shuffle and singing loudly, followed by reading a Psalm then a chapter from Jeremiah (at the moment - very interesting; it's amazing, I've been noticing, how much there is reference to Jesus in Jeremiah, which no-one's pointed out to me before.) and then still working through John for Everyone (part 2) by Tom Wright (read it! And Part 1, too!). Had a great time singing the other day, really felt God touching me, loving me, it was great.
I'm also reading two brilliant books right now. Firstly, The Pursuit of Holiness (not Happyness) by Jerry Bridges. Get your hands on a copy - oldish book (about the 80s, so my era, really...) but so relevant today, on something that every single person without exception needs. And secondly, C S Lewis's Reflections on the Psalms (to go with my reading of the Psalms, obviously). Good help, good insight.
So, why no posts since a week ago?
Well, the real answer is the internet has been down for this past week. Why didn't I do it the week before? I have no idea. But here I am now. I also apologise for the lack of photos. Now it's just info. I'll see what I can do about that.
But, Aidan! What was the English Weekend you were on about?!
Ah, thanks for that question. Last weekend I headed up to Porto and spent a weekend with Bill and Tina again. Brilliant time. Saturday night (after seeing X-Men Origins with the teenagers - brilliant film (despite the poor beginning)) was spent with steak and red wine with Bill, Tina, Alison and her daughter Sophia. Great conversation, great food, great company. All English, amazing. Then we watched Britain's Got Talent, and I felt so proud for our country. I'm hooked to the show - not just singing, it's brilliant! After a lovely night's sleep, we watched the Eurovision Song Contest which Tina had recorded. Oh how hilarious! Dead impressed by the UKs position though, and what did you think of Portugal's choon, eh?! Not too shabby! (Especially the male flautist :)) Great church meeting in the evening - Romans 4 and Faith! I was on the djembe in the band again. More top company, top food, and another good night's sleep before coming back. I guess it was a refreshing weekend, but it really made me miss home and thus Monday was difficult for me with the children. I seemed to be uncomprehensible to anybody, I was tired of being a human climbing frame, I was tired of being the children's best friend when I agree with what they're doing and they're worst enemy when I'm saying no. Monday was tough; Tuesday was much better. Just needed to be back into it.
So, I should be home in the next month. It's an odd feeling. I'm not going to start reminiscing yet, though. That'll be another post.
Be safe, y'all. Love to you - I miss you all. Really. Não posso esperar para ver-se quando volte. Beijinho!
In Christ,
Aidan x
This and that. Getting into some good disciplines (well, not just these past two weeks, but the whole time I've been here), soaking up some sun, and having a brilliantly English Weekend.
My work has consisted of cutting grass for various reasons. Sometimes just to make the place look pretty. But one of the biggest patches was to stop snakes hiding. Yes, I was filled with joy upon hearing, "We need you to cut the grass by the footy pitch because the snakes hide in there". Great.
English classes have been non-existent this week. I think all the teenagers have done their English tests for school - I just hope I've helped them a little bit! They seemed to get some sort of a grip on whatever we went through (despite the fact they hated doing the classes, just how I felt doing my French tuition classes...).
I guess the biggest news since Friday is the fact that the astro-turf for the new pitch has FINALLY ARRIVED! It was very very exciting. A big lorry, followed by a lot of waiting around for another lorry to be brought with an arm because the first lorry wouldn't fit up the track up to the pitch. Then, five burly men and myself heaved 10 massive rolls of astro-turf off the lorry onto the ground, then strapped them onto the crane one by one to be taken up to the top. Now they're all lying messily by the entrance to the pitch awaiting another machine to come and lay them. Oh, please come tomorrow! It's so bloomin' exciting! Gave my muscles a good work out, too.
I've been 'running' with Jorge and whoever else wants to come this past fortnight, too. I say 'running', because it starts off as a run and quickly turns into a walk, then a slow walk with frequent stops, followed by short and odd bursts of running (after much nagging from me). And that's on a good day. Bad days will hardly start with a run, have a lot of complaining, and much pushing of Jorge by me to make him move at all. I do it as a difference from football, and everytime he says "Aidan lets go running!" and then doesn't run! Why say you want to go running and then complain, Jorge?! I know, it's because he's unfit, but he can't surely be serious when he's not done any running at all and uses the excuse 'Tenho cansado' (I'm tired) when I nag him to run?!
Played a wicked game of footy with Rubén, Joel, Marcos, Miguel, Fabio, Nelson, Goto and João on Wednesday night. Pure gold. It was the teenagers, Miguel and me against Rubén, Fabio, Joel and Marcos. They won, 18-14 or something. Mental. Football with Jorge, Marcos, Miguel and Joel (pequenho) has not been so fun recently (hence the running instead) with arguments, fouls and fights breaking out (usually involving Joel - his temper is bad!) frequently. I have to be an actual referee. Unbelievable.
There's been a lot of sunshine recently, too, until this weekend. It has been nice and hot. Delightful.
What was that? Did I hear someone ask what is this discipline I'm on about?
Well, it's me getting into structures, disciplines, making sure I'm really putting effort into God rather than just sitting back and letting Him happen around me. Put something into the Relationship for it to come out of me. I'm loving my quiet times (though thinking I'll have to do some BEFORE lunch, because I keep falling asleep after lunch...), putting my iPod on the 'Worship' playlist on shuffle and singing loudly, followed by reading a Psalm then a chapter from Jeremiah (at the moment - very interesting; it's amazing, I've been noticing, how much there is reference to Jesus in Jeremiah, which no-one's pointed out to me before.) and then still working through John for Everyone (part 2) by Tom Wright (read it! And Part 1, too!). Had a great time singing the other day, really felt God touching me, loving me, it was great.
I'm also reading two brilliant books right now. Firstly, The Pursuit of Holiness (not Happyness) by Jerry Bridges. Get your hands on a copy - oldish book (about the 80s, so my era, really...) but so relevant today, on something that every single person without exception needs. And secondly, C S Lewis's Reflections on the Psalms (to go with my reading of the Psalms, obviously). Good help, good insight.
So, why no posts since a week ago?
Well, the real answer is the internet has been down for this past week. Why didn't I do it the week before? I have no idea. But here I am now. I also apologise for the lack of photos. Now it's just info. I'll see what I can do about that.
But, Aidan! What was the English Weekend you were on about?!
Ah, thanks for that question. Last weekend I headed up to Porto and spent a weekend with Bill and Tina again. Brilliant time. Saturday night (after seeing X-Men Origins with the teenagers - brilliant film (despite the poor beginning)) was spent with steak and red wine with Bill, Tina, Alison and her daughter Sophia. Great conversation, great food, great company. All English, amazing. Then we watched Britain's Got Talent, and I felt so proud for our country. I'm hooked to the show - not just singing, it's brilliant! After a lovely night's sleep, we watched the Eurovision Song Contest which Tina had recorded. Oh how hilarious! Dead impressed by the UKs position though, and what did you think of Portugal's choon, eh?! Not too shabby! (Especially the male flautist :)) Great church meeting in the evening - Romans 4 and Faith! I was on the djembe in the band again. More top company, top food, and another good night's sleep before coming back. I guess it was a refreshing weekend, but it really made me miss home and thus Monday was difficult for me with the children. I seemed to be uncomprehensible to anybody, I was tired of being a human climbing frame, I was tired of being the children's best friend when I agree with what they're doing and they're worst enemy when I'm saying no. Monday was tough; Tuesday was much better. Just needed to be back into it.
So, I should be home in the next month. It's an odd feeling. I'm not going to start reminiscing yet, though. That'll be another post.
Be safe, y'all. Love to you - I miss you all. Really. Não posso esperar para ver-se quando volte. Beijinho!
In Christ,
Aidan x
Sunday 10 May 2009
For Her. 10 . v . 2009
Birthdays are times of joy and happiness. Marking continued progress. In Portugal, we say 'Parabéns'. Congratulations. You've made it, you've pushed through. Like we're doing more than just living.
I love that verse, Hebrews 11 verse 1: "...we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses" cheering us on.
Dom. Dominie. It means something like master, or 'of the Lord'. She's shorter than me, and has longer hair than me. Apart from that, she looks pretty much the same as me (though, more beautiful...) She's had her rough times; she's had her happy times; she's studied hard; she's loved well; she's generous and kind; corageous and firm in her faith and her life. And she's still got loads more to come.
But, that aside, she's brilliant. She loves to be herself, she loves to get out. She's smart, she's fun. There aren't many sibling relationships I know like ours - we can just sit and chat and laugh and mull stuff over for hours. We can go out and mess around without feeling like we look stupid. Not that we don't have our differences, of course, but who doesn't? She's is the World's Top Sister (and she will hate me for putting that in Capitals) and I love her.
Dom, thanks for being such a great sister. I know I can be a sucky brother more than infrequently, but you are always great. I love hanging out with you, talking with you, telling you when I've got stuff to be happy about and stuff that's getting me down. And I love hearing the same from you.
You are brilliant.
Happy Birthday, big sis! I hope you have a brilliant day - it's all yours!
Missing you loads, and I can't wait to see you looking all scholarly and accomplished on July 1st!
Your little brother,
Aidan x
I love that verse, Hebrews 11 verse 1: "...we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses" cheering us on.
Dom. Dominie. It means something like master, or 'of the Lord'. She's shorter than me, and has longer hair than me. Apart from that, she looks pretty much the same as me (though, more beautiful...) She's had her rough times; she's had her happy times; she's studied hard; she's loved well; she's generous and kind; corageous and firm in her faith and her life. And she's still got loads more to come.
But, that aside, she's brilliant. She loves to be herself, she loves to get out. She's smart, she's fun. There aren't many sibling relationships I know like ours - we can just sit and chat and laugh and mull stuff over for hours. We can go out and mess around without feeling like we look stupid. Not that we don't have our differences, of course, but who doesn't? She's is the World's Top Sister (and she will hate me for putting that in Capitals) and I love her.
Dom, thanks for being such a great sister. I know I can be a sucky brother more than infrequently, but you are always great. I love hanging out with you, talking with you, telling you when I've got stuff to be happy about and stuff that's getting me down. And I love hearing the same from you.
You are brilliant.
Happy Birthday, big sis! I hope you have a brilliant day - it's all yours!
Missing you loads, and I can't wait to see you looking all scholarly and accomplished on July 1st!
Your little brother,
Aidan x
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