About three years ago my sister Adina asked if she could publish one of my letters on her blog. What's a blog? I asked. She sent me the link to Pony, and I spent the next two days going through her archives, catching up on the life of my little sister. We haven't lived in the same country since 1990, and we don't see each other as often as I'd like, so there was a lot I didn't know. I did know that she was a talented writer; but I hadn't realized how wise, witty and cool a creature she had become. I was blown away by her talent with words; I was bemused, edified and charmed by her insights; and I was a bit saddened by the realization that physical distance had indeed contributed to cognitive distance. She had a whole life that I was barely aware of.

Since then I've been following the Pony daily, from Toronto to Montreal to India and back to Toronto again; from the end of one relationship to the beginning and flowering of another. Somehow, she always managed to strike that delicate balance between telling the truth and revealing too much.

Today is Pony's fourth birthday. In honour of the occasion, here are four things you might not have known about her:

The Pony:

• Encouraged me to start this blog and chose its name;
• Once wrote a birthday poem for our mother, entitled "Still Alive at Forty-Five";
• Lived and studied in Jerusalem for two years and still speaks really good Hebrew;
• Is significantly shorter than me, but also has significantly bigger boobies.
  
  
  If you go to the Happy Robot homepage, you'll find links to more words of praise for the Pony as they come flowing in throughout the day, from a variety of time zones.
  
  And while you're waiting, you can read four of my favourite Pony posts:
  
  Anshul
  A eulogy to our grandmother
  An open letter to me
  Mobs, Mengele and Maimonides