People in My Life: #1

People In My Life: #1
HOLLY!

I am getting pretty tired of writing about myself, so I thought - Why not write about the people I love most!? I was looking at my current facebook profile picture and saw my beautiful cousin, Holly. Then I looked through more pictures and saw just how many times this blue-eyed blond -who looks NOTHING like me (except our arms... we have the same arms!) - has appeared in photos and who is a part of many of my most favorite memories.

Holly's mom and my mom are sisters. So, I guess you would say we are first cousins. But, really... "first cousin" doesn't quite describe it! Holly is three and a half years younger than me and grew up just "down the road" from my house. We both have older siblings, but they are 15+ years older than us, so we both had very strange "places" in our families. We were both the babies of our families, but we also had nieces and nephews at early ages. In some ways, we were babies... in other ways, we were the oldest... and in most ways, we were the middle children... left to fend for ourselves. :)

Growing up, Holly and I were hysterical. She annoyed me, I bullied her. She smacked her food, I nagged at her for not brushing her hair. She wanted to play school, I only wanted to be the teacher. But, no matter how much we fought or argued or complained about one another, we were really close! One of us would invite the other over to play, and we'd end up begging our parents to let us spend the night with one another. We grew apart some during middle and high school, mainly because of our age difference. But, once we were both in college, we got right back to our old ways... well, minus the food-smacking and spend-the-night parties!

Though Holly and I are bonded through blood, we also share a deep connection through an experience we both have had. Both of us lost our dads at early ages. Holly's father died while she was in middle school, and mine died just four years ago. We both have had to deal with intense grief at early ages and each lost a very important person in our lives. So, when Holly says she understands how I feel, she really does understand how I feel.

So, what else about Holly? She's super smart! She's a nursing student at UA and does scary things like give shots and bathe people and deal with coding patients. I'll complain about how stressful teaching is and then she trumps my story by telling me about how she handled a life-and-death situation (even if it was with a fancy dummy!). And she acts like it's no big deal! Holly also has an awesome boyfriend, Micah. But this post isn't about Micah, but he is pretty funny!

My absolute favorite thing about Holly is that she's honest. She tells it like it is. Yes, that dress looks terrible on you. No, I don't think you need to get the pink flowers. Yes I think it's fine to tell her that. No, I don't think you should let him get away with that! If you ask for Holly's opinion, you'll get Holly's opinion! But, Holly is also super encouraging. She has helped me with wedding plans, lesson plans, and God only knows what else!

I'm really having to edit what I write because this really could go on forever! I have so many funny memories with Holly... school day afternoons, daydreaming about our million dollar mansions, the great snow of 1993, playing favorites with our granddaddy, driving to Orlando... the list could go on!

But, that's Holly in six paragraphs! She's a pretty stellar person and I'm glad that she is in my life.... FOREVER! I'm so thankful that my family members are also my friends!!!