So here is the first in a long series of entries of all the people Charlie knows! Today: the sisters.
Kathy
a.k.a. Katty, Katty-Tran, Kathy the Grape
The oldest and hippest of us all, Katty’s the girl advice givin’, New York livin’, music diggin’ girl that makes Charlie admire and aspire. We have Kathy to thank for paving the way for all us Tran kids, specifically in the area of parent dedorkifying. She breezed through high school without inhibitions, went to U of Chicago, then got her masters at a state college in NYC, and thus far has blazed through like a star afraid of being sucked into its own black hole (or in her case, mole). Right now, she’s a grade school teacher in some shady bump of the Big Apple, where her kids are convinced she’s Puerto Rican.
Annie
a.k.a. Annieman, Bananaham, Smellybutt
Annie’s the resident genius of the fam, thinking of most of the good ideas and making sure we don’t pursue the bad ones. Three good adjectives for Annieman would be: funny, cheery, pooty*. I can’t imagine anyone (save a sibling) having anything against the girl, since she’s always doing her best to help, can lighten a mood like no one else, and is better-mannered than most of us can ever hope to be. In high school, Annie was the girl who was popular simply because she was so likeable, and whose cute cheerful exterior held a brain of MIGHT! (How often to I get to say ‘brain of MIGHT’ in this diary?) If what I have with Kathy is the music and style link, what I have with Annie is the creative and eyebrow-raising sense of humor link.
Bonnie
a.k.a. Banoinee, Little Bon-Bon, Baby (what my sisters call her)
The youngin’ sister and forever the baby of the family, she and I really didn’t get along till my junior or senior year. I’m not sure exactly what it was that stopped the yelling and general frustration, but I think we matured at the same time: as I was leaving high school, and as she was about to enter it. We’re a slightly crazy pair, and we usually put on an odd sibling rivalry show whenever her or my friends are over, much to their amusement/terror. As she is now, a freshman in high school with all the possibilities in life begging her to take one of them, it’s hard to say just how she’ll turn out, although it’ll undoubtedly be better than I did.
It’s hard for me to talk about my parents right now, because my opinion about them wavers from love to eyebrow-ripping frustration on a timescale of minutes these days. In general though, I’m glad they’re mine, and I know I’m luckier than most people to have them even if it’s hard for me to show it.
*In fact, don’t tell anyone, but poot is technically Annie’s word.