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| The morning after the Debut <3 |
On August 22nd, 2015, my sister, Eileen Reyes Vedar, had her debut. It was a first for our family, since I didn't have one myself. I was her emcee and her DJ, and the choreographer for the big group waltz-y dance in the beginning.
It was an amazing night.
The beginning, however, was absolutely insane. I had to run sound and video checks when we got to the venue, but we started with nothing. Once the projector and speaker systems were explained, we had to figure out where I would sit to make everything happen, since the original plan wouldn't work. Once we worked out that I would just sit by the projector with a laptop plugged into the speakers, the next problem was that the video was laggy.
So we needed a different connector cable, which nobody had. Cue the semi-frantic calls everywhere as we fall further and further behind schedule. This goes on right until the minute people start arriving. If sound wasn't working, video was. If video wasn't working, sound was. People had different cuts and downloads of music that just weren't downloading, videos weren't playing, it was a huge technological mess. BUT AT THE LAST SECOND, everything worked out fine. Sweet! Sigh of relief, let's welcome the world in.
So the debut continues on. The guests arrive, the big beginning dance goes well, the trivia game works out, the food is bomb, and the ice cream bar is off the hook. Then comes the Candles speeches.
Everyone. is crying.
Eileen is this incredible person, who has impacted so many lives. Of course there are emotional, teary Candles speeches. However, this continues to put us behind schedule. Whoops. But I'm last. I wanted it to count, but I ended up winging it instead. I played Spirited Away in the background and start to cry. She's so wonderful, so beautiful, and she's my little sister. Other people can see her as their sister, either as an older or younger one, but at the end of the day, I was there for her since day 1. The Candles speech I said emphasized that I will always be there for her. If I actually thought ahead of time, every part of my speech would have had a pun. However, in a more heartfelt fashion, this is the Candles speech I wanted to give.
Tonight, my Candles speech comes in 3 parts: Thank you, I love you, and I'm sorry.
Eileen, it's obvious that you do so much for so many people. But I'm not thanking you for what you've done for me, because we have our whole lives to have that give and take of doing things for each other. I want to thank you for being yourself. I want to thank you for being honest when it comes to how you think about things, like how every day is a blessing. Thank you for trying tinikling for the debut, and for being really good at it! Thank you for the 4am sunrise donut runs and the 10pm boba runs. Thank you for letting me be me, and rant about whatever at random times. Thanks for always making me laugh, even when I don't think I can. Thank you for being an amazing human being, thank you for living every day to the fullest, even if your body doesn't let you sometimes. Thank you for giving me about 18-19 new siblings I never knew I wanted. But thank you for being my OG little sister.
I hope you realize that I love you, and I mean that so much. I love how weird you are, how sassy you can be, even though it's super annoying sometimes. I loved watching you grow from "Eileen, Erin Nicole's sister" to "Eileen, principal cellist" or "Eileen, badass badminton player" or "Eileen, ruler of Key Club." You make your own name for yourself. You're a million times more fashionable that I could ever be, and you're everything I could never be. I love that about you. Everyone's right, you will do incredible things when you grow up, but you're already doing incredible things now.
I'm sorry if I'm not the best sister. I'm sorry if sometimes it seems like I'm not there for you. I don't even know if you entirely need me. I'm sorry for all the times this debut frustrated us and we got real annoyed with each other. But I want you to know that I am always going to be here, I'm always going to care. That's why I get annoying with dumb questions, or weird misunderstandings, or whatever. I want you to live your life knowing there's someone out there who cares about you and loves you. Even if it feels like everything is going wrong, or you feel entirely alone, I need you to know that you're never alone. I'm always going to be a text message, or four steps across the hall, or even a lot of loud banging on our shared wall away. Tete's always going to have your back, and I would do literally anything to make you happy.
We've been through your whole life together. Every up and down and weird pit stop, our journey of life has always been intertwined somehow. So don't ever worry about me leaving you, because you're stuck with me forever. Happy 18th, Eileen. To this, and many more together.
