Sooo Proud of Whitney

May 15, 2008:

When I was a little girl I can remember picking dandelions and throwing pennies into fountains. And each time that I got to make a wish, I would wish for a baby sister. When I was six and a half, my wish came true. I can remember leaving the house at 3:00 am and heading to the hospital. I remember my grandparents telling me to lay down in the waiting room, but I was so excited about her arrival that I couldn't rest. The nurses came and got me about an hour after we had arrived and told me that I had a little sister. They took me back to see her before any of the other family. I loved to hold her and play with her when she was a baby.

When she was 6, our parents divorced, and my mom was given custody of her and my dad was given custody of me. She and I were together every weekend, but I was now in junior high and bratty little sisters weren't that much fun. We didn't have much in common and although I loved her, she wasn't really my friend.

Once she became a teenager, I tried to reach out to her some. I let her come stay the night with me at my apartment in downtown Dallas, and would try to talk to her about boys, and parents, and all that stuff that teens love and hate. And by the time she was a Senior in high school, we had become friends for the first time in our lives. I really was begining to enjoy getting to know her and spending time with her.

She worked her butt of throughout high school. She waited tables, volunteered with Equest, played basketball, went to State for debate, and graduated in the top 10 of her class. I was so proud of her as I waddled in 9 months pregnant with Grace to her graduation, but was a little sad to see her heading away to college.

On December 13, 2004, on the eve of her first final exam as a college freshman, me, my mom, and Wes drove to College Station for our first visit to her dorm. I can still remember the scream she let out as I told her that our dad had died that morning. She collapsed to the floor in agony as I hugged her tight. And as hard as his death was on all of us, it brought her and I even closer. There were so many people in our lives that loved us and wanted us to open up to them, but it was hard for us to do. I felt like she was the only one in the world that had some sort of grasp of what it felt like to lose my dad, and she felt the same way too. And inspite of all the pain Whit was feeling, she picked herself up in January and headed back to her dorm room and finished her year at school with all A's. The following year, she transferred to UT Austin. I think it was because our dad bled orange that she decided to go there. That, and the fact that someone as liberal as her belongs in Austin. She arrived at UT with the rest of her schooling paid for through private scholarships and grants that she had earned. While in Austin, she has waited tables, worked as a vet. tech, and now a degree in Government and Business. Tomorrow she will walk across the stage and recieve her diploma. I am beyond proud of her and her accomplishments. The next stop on her journey is law school, and I can't wait to find out where she decides to go.