Barbara, aged 14, writes a letter to her younger sister, Ronee', 10 1/2, and tells her why she is so special to her.
Friday, September 5, 2003~
Dear Ronee':
How fast you are growing; it seems you are growing older right before my very eyes! Five years ago, you were so innocent and little; now you are starting to worry about things in this world, and all of a sudden, you don't seem so childlike or carefree anymore.
You have many things on your mind: I see the stress and worry in your eyes, and it shows in your face; and somehow, you suddenly seem older. You may still be small for your age, but you are far from naive; you know so much now, and you still never cease to amaze me with your intelligence or precociousness! You may be 10 1/2 now, but you act more like 30!
You have been through such incredible heartache and pain in your life; you have had to go through things that NO child should ever have to endure! You have had many hospitalizations for your arthritis, asthma, or allergies; and somehow, when things looked at their worst, you managed to find strength and pull through even the worst trials, such as the time you had your stroke, or the time you had meningitis. You are handicapped physically, but there is NOTHING "handicapped" about your brain or your gifted mind, and you manage to teach people that "it is okay to be 'different'", and you refuse to let your handicaps stand in the way of any goal you want to accomplish. You have such a strong and courageous spirit about you, and whenever I see you interact with other people, I am nothing short of amazed! I don't know how you do it, but I sure wish I had your "can-do" attitude; I really could take lessons from you!
You teach us about acceptance and love in trying circumstances, and you teach others about the Love and Mercy of Jesus Christ. Jesus shines in your face, and I see the Love of Christ in everything you do. You are talented, articulate, mercurial, and extremely compassionate and caring, and even if you are having a bad day, most of the time we don't even know it because you always seem to have such a pleasant outlook on life or a smile on your face!
I don't know how you can be happy at times of sickness or uncertainty, but you are, and you always have a way to make people feel better, even though you may not be doing your best yourself. You know how I get whenever I have one of my sinus infections: GROUCHY! Let's face it: at times, I am a regular B****!! Sure, there are people who have it so much worse than you will ever have it, but as bad as you may have it, you always know of other people's misfortunes that are worse than your own, and you are right there, trying to cheer them up.
You have certainly brightened my life ever since I came into the family, and even though there were problems at first, it wasn't long before you accepted me as your older sister, and you don't know HOW much that meant to me. You took me under your wing when it was I who should have been taking YOU under MY wing! You made me feel good about myself, and you always managed to make me smile or laugh (and still do to this day!).
You have also blessed me with your God-given talents, and you don't know HOW proud I am of you! Even if you DON'T make it as a singer, you will ALWAYS be a star in my heart, and I happen to think that you will go far in your quest for stardom! Your determination to succeed is awesome, and I am glad you aren't giving up because I happen to think that you are TERRIFIC!! (Loretta, eat your heart out!!)
Well, I have written long enough; I will continue this at a later date. Have to get ready to go to lunch; I am writing this in study hall! I'll give this to you later on, probably, just so you know how much you are appreciated (and loved) by me!
Have a good day, Ronee', and thank you for being there for me! I love you with all my heart and soul!
As always, Your Big Sister, Barbara. :D
(((HUGS))) and XXX's to you, sweet Ronee'!
Appreciation is a wonderful sentiment we often forget to pass on. A good thing for both the sender and the receiver. Words that reenforce someone's worth are priceless. Thank you for writing this. Keep on writing.
A wicked Cajun Fairy named Robes Pierre entered the impenetrable Magical doll land of Sha Bebe. Queen Faustina, the ruler of the doll land, thought she had destroyed him, but he's back! Will the doll land survive his evil ways?
