You can kid the world, but not your sister.

When my sister found out I had blog she said:

"You would start a blog about yourself."

This is exactly how I assumed my loveable, little sister would react. 

BUT...

I'll assume she didn't expect me to respond with a whole blog entry about HER.  This may be my blog...but this post is all about my wonderful little sister:

Courteney Ann.

There are so many things I could say about my little sister.  She is talented, kind, humble, beautiful, intelligent...the list could go on and on.

Courteney was born a strawberry-blonde headed little firecracker.  I remember always being able to coax her into doing ANYTHING with the promise of tomatoes.  (She LOVED tomatoes.  In fact, I can still get her to do pretty much anything with the promise of food.) 

I once had the aspirations of becoming a film-maker and would make Courteney dance and sing for hours in front of our old school JVC handheld video camera.  And she would...if there were tomatoes close by.

We, of course, fought.  And got in trouble.  And hated each other at times. 


We drove our parents crazy! (but what siblings don't? Right?)

Growing up, in the moment, I never quite understood how important my sister would become to me.

Looking back, she's always stepped up to console me (upon getting dumped she once said "I'll kick his butt for you"), she's been there to encourage me, and she's always been one to give good advice.

My mom and I like to say Courteney gives the "NO DUH!" advice.  She makes points that, in the given situation, always make sense.  She has the ability to make you see beyond your struggle and get yourself back on your feet.

When I moved to Kentucky Courteney would call, put me on speakerphone and play the piano.  She would take requests and sometimes, by the end of the jam session we would be singing together...over the phone, 2,000 miles apart.

In those moments I realized...Courteney Ann, that fiery red-head, is not only my sister but:

my best friend.