Kendra

My Baby Sister

Kendra is the baby girl in our family. She is four years younger than me, and her birthday is just four days before mine. There was a short stint where I was a teenager, and she wasn't quite yet, where we went out a couple of times to celebrate our birthdays, just the two of us. I wish that we had continued that tradition because I've always had so much fun with Kendra.

I'm choosing to give Kendra a necklace not only because she is my sister and I love her, but also because I am impressed by her confidence and her love of life.

If you were to take a character snapshot of everyone in our family as a child, then again as an adult I think you would be the most surprised by who Kendra has become. All the rest of us I would dare-say were pretty predictable in the type of adults we ended up. She always was full of surprises though.

Kendra was a blond, smiley, really energetic little girl. If you pointed a camera at her you'd think a director had just yelled "action" and a million flashbulbs were pointed her way. I have so many pictures of her being an absolute ham in front of the camera; pulling faces, blowing kisses, and slipping into different characters. I remember one in particular where she is wearing sunglasses and a trench coat while she spied on our older sisters. She used to dance and run around and rough-house with the boys. Now she just does it with our nieces and nephews.

One of the more endearing things about Kendra as a kid was that she would surprise different people in our family with a little massage and treat every once in a while. You'd come out to the living room and she'd have a t.v. tray setup with a treat and candle and she'd give you a hand or foot massage or something. I always felt pretty lucky when I happened to be the recipient. She was a great masseuse, she even wanted to be one for a while. She may have short stubby fingers, but they were strong and she did a great job.

Kendra is now a dark-haired, sassy protagonist, completely comfortable in her own skin. She has a quick wit and her humor has turned sarcastic. She is often playing devil's advocate and arguing someone else's point of view, even if she probably agrees with them. She has a tough exterior, but we all know she still has an absolute heart of gold. She still gets emotional pretty easily if the right topic comes up, and she is passionate about everything. Whether she likes it or hates it, she does it with enthusiasm.

She is also a great cook. She is always trying a new recipe, and I always look forward to testing these out. For a while Kendra wanted to be a newspaper columnist. I still think she would be fantastic at that, she's always be very smart. As a child she always had a baby doll to look after, and she is amazingly capable with the grandkids in our family... I guess what I'm getting at here is there isn't anything my baby sister can't do. Of all the things she's expressed interest at trying or being there hasn't been one that I thought she couldn't do. If she were to tell me she were running for a political office I'd be one of the first to volunteer to help her; partly because I think she'd be awesome, and partly because I'd love a front-row seat to watch her take the world by storm!

I love my little sister; even more now with her fire and indignation, than I did before with her cheesy grin (which really is still there, she just tries to hide it more). Kendra, you're awesome!