Happy Birthday Little Sis

Many of you may not know my sister, Kristi. Today is her birthday! What I wouldn't do to kidnap her, and give her the weekend of pampering she deserves.

She spent today, HER day, carrying out the responsibilities of her two part-time jobs, playing taxi driver, taking care of her family of 5, and tag-teaming with her husband as nurse to their 7 yr old who is recovering from surgery this weekend where the 3 broken bones in his arm were pinned together. Not much of a birthday in a way, but there are no complaints from her. Not surprising.

I am so blessed to have a sister that I can also call my dear friend. Although distance and schedules don't allow our paths to cross as frequently as we'd like, she is still someone I treasure. In honor of her, here are memories that are tender to me:

1. Our many roller skate routines played out with great enthusiasm on the driveway we were so cool!
2. Playing with barbies for countless hours
3. Getting in trouble, time and time again, for laughing too much in the double bed we shared until we were 16 and 14.
4. Cheering one another on as we ran distance in high school
5. Wishing I had your GPA and feeling frustrated that academic accolades are so often overlooked by the world. It paid off in college when so many of your teachers sang your praises. I am so proud of you. You are an amazing teacher and are impacting lives in deep and powerful ways.
6. My heart breaking at your tears as I left for college, it made it so much harder to go
7. Watching you run your senior track year in spite of tremendous pain. I was so proud of you! I admire that work ethic, then and now
8. Getting to know you as a chosen friend in college
9. Standing at your side when you married your best friend
10. Being so thankful that you filled my fridge with all my favorite things when I came back from my first mission trip to Romania
11. Being forever indebted to you for typing so many of my lengthy papers in college, deep into the night
12. Holding your first born and thinking she was the cutest thing ever
13. Walking through life with you, sporadically though it be, and knowing that we will have all eternity to spend together

Love you like crazy "Chip."