For my sister, growing up with me wasn't the easiest. She was always the sweet, kind, well behaved one who everyone enjoyed being around. I was always the nagging little "tomboy" sister who always found her way in to trouble. We were complete opposites, and there were many days that we did not get along (looking back I feel a little sorry for her :)). My mom and WaWa (grandmother) would always tell me that I needed to "play sweet" with Robyn because one day she would be my best friend. I rolled my eyes every time I heard this. What were they thinking? Did they know the 2 of us??
Well, over a period of many years - slowly but surely - mom and WaWa proved to be right. Don't get me wrong, I always loved my sister growing up, we just didn't have much in common at the time. I really don't think it was until college...when I came into a relationship with the Lord...that we really started connecting. The funny thing is that even before that, when I was at my most selfish points of life, she was always such a supportive big sister. She encouraged me to have a relationship with the Lord, to have a close relationship with my family, to do well in school, etc. She has seen me through pretty much every good AND hard time in my life whether it be breakups, school, family, sicknesses, marriage, moves, pregnancy, birth, ACID REFLUX... I could go on and on. When I really stop and think about it, I don't know what I would do without her now. She is a major rock in our family. I have so much admiration and love for her, and she is still the biggest role model for me.
Our husbands joke because both of our phones are able to receive email, and I promise you that every single morning the emails start about 7 a.m. Lee and Dane call the phones "Sister communicators" and they are so right! Usually it just starts with "good morning" and goes from there. Even though I don't live right next to her anymore I can pretty much tell you where she is at any time of the day, as well as what she and her 3 BEAUTIFUL girls are doing :). Thank goodness for technology!
Anyways, back to the gift. When I opened it I got slightly emotional in front of many people (not too common for me) because I feel like this sign sums up my life - especially for the first 3 months of Knox's life. Everything was so hard for me and I lived in a haze there for a while, and honestly wasn't sure if it was ever going to end. I went down to stay with Robyn quite often, and she welcomed me with open arms and completely took over for me. She has seen many tears of sadness and frustration from me, and she has never once judged me or thought that I wasn't capable. She just immediately stepped in and helped me get through it (while taking care of her own 3), and encouraged me the entire time. SO...when I opened it I immediately thought of all those times she helped me when I needed it the most, and I thought this saying was the perfect description of what I thought of her: My angel. I was able to hold back the "full on" tears, but when I got in the car with Lee, I clenched that sign the entire way home and cried like a baby. Of course I told her that I cried like a baby when we were emailing each other an hour later. You know what she said? She told me that when she bought that sign, she wasn't thinking of how she helped me, but rather I had helped her and given her some advice one day, and that was the day she saw the sign and it made her think of me...
I love my sister. She is not a regular sister. She is not a regular person. She is truly a gift from God and the absolute best friend that I could have ever asked for. I really pray that the Lord allows us to continue to raise our children together, and one day play with our grandchildren and tell them to play sweet with each other...because one day very soon they will end up being best friends...
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