Happy Birthday Nicky!

First of all lets get this out of the way, you were an absolute pain in the arse as a kid! Demanding, annoying, terrible dress sense and you were a Bros fan! Seriously what on earth did I do to deserve you as a sister?

Things didn't get much better as you started to grow up, we went as Adam and Eve one year at a holiday camp fancy dress for kids, this was the 70's people chill out, all the cousins dressed up, you had the apple and you ate it on the way there! So there we were me looking like Tarzan and you standing next to me munching on the apple you were given. We never won although we got a lot of oohhhs and aaahhhs.

On another occasion we were sitting there eating dinner, all happy and excited for the evenings entertainment, when you fell asleep in your dinner. Literally head first into your dinner. That was the end of that night.

So you have a habit of causing me grief don't you? Can you see a pattern emerging here? Well thank god you grew out of it. You have become a wonderful mother to your kids, you don't have it easy with all that has happened but you've hung in there. You have Dads strength and stubbornness, I inherited the emotion and soft side, we kind of balance each other out.

We don't always see eye to eye and we do still argue. We are both very opinionated and both know how to wind each other up, but it isn't done with any malice, you still cant get over the fact I'm the Golden child, hey what can I say some of us are born with it, some aren't.

As sisters go you aren't too bad Nicky, we will continue to clash till our dying day, but what wont change is my pride in the woman and mother you have become, the way that no matter what life throws at you, you just get on with it, bottle of vodka in one hand and a bottle of sparkling wine in the other, surround by some really good friends who have helped you get to where you are now.

So as you get older on yet another birthday just take a minute to look back to what you've faced and realise you have survived 100% of your worst days and whatever comes next wont be as bad. From the kids who love their Auntie Nicky, from the Sister in Law who loves you like a sister and from me a proud older brother who doesn't always tell or show you how much you mean to me, how much I love you and bloody proud of you I am.

Happy Birthday Sis xxx