3.

3. Tatie(Valentine)
Tatie spent the last year saving lives in Africa. Prior to Africa she was in Cambodia. Her friend from college, Annika, went with her. There were countless times when I was little watching Tatie sitting in our backyard with her friend Annika. Occasionally Annika would blurt out a memory they shared such as "Remember that time you were really hungry in Cambodia, and you ordered that sandwich with sprinkles!" Apparently it always made Annika giggle and Tatie would just shake her head and take a sip of water.
I loved my sister. Not because she was beautiful and the smartest person in her graduating class and planning on going to law school, but because she loved me.
My parents knew I was a runt. Hell, even I knew I was a runt. But what was I supposed to do, stop living? The Morsen kid did just that and their family isn't any better. So I deflected all of the criticisms my parents had of me and took comfort in the warm words of wisdom from my sister.
When we lived together she would invite me into her room upstairs and we would lay on our backs underneath the skylights. We would listen to New Order or any other snyth-pop band while she recited sutras in a prayer stance and I would watch. She would comfort me by saying, "Free your mind and the rest will follow." I think she heard that from one of her records, but that didn't change anything. Her long brown hair reached between her legs and noticeably she hadn't shaved for months. She was the epitome of ______________.