08/19/2026
Happy birthday to my little sister, Mel, on your milestone birthday 🎂
I don’t even know how to put into words what you mean to me, but I’m going to try, because you deserve to hear it, especially on a birthday like this one.
You are my little sister, but you are also my closest friend - the person I call first when something good happens and the person I call first when something falls apart. There is nobody whose support I trust more than yours, and I hope you know that whatever I lean on you for, you can lean right back on me for. That’s what we do.
I’m not going to pretend it was easy when you moved away - first to LA, then to London. I missed you in a way that’s hard to explain unless you’ve had a sibling who is also your best friend. But watching you go out and build a life for yourself, chase what you wanted, and come back more YOU than ever - it was worth every mile between us! It was the best thing your family could have done. And when you moved back home? The elation was real.
Mel, you are an absolute beast - in the very best sense of that word. Capable doesn’t even begin to cover it. I watch what you take on and how you handle it, and I am consistently, genuinely in awe of you. Your talent, your drive, your ability to figure things out and land on your feet no matter what gets thrown at you. I am so proud of you it’s almost embarrassing. I hope you feel how much I mean that.
So today, on your milestone birthday, we raise a glass (several, honestly, because let’s be real, we’re Vikings and one was never going to cut it) to you. To everything you’ve built, everywhere you’ve been, and everywhere you’re still going.
To my little sis. Cheers 🥂