Dear Bubba,

I am writing this article just for you, only because you ask me every time I post one if you're in it. So, this one is dedicated fully to you and what your birth did for me.

First off, I am not quite sure how I made it past that first year. ALL you ever did was cry, and as Grandma said, "I'll flush you down the toilet if you don't stop crying." After that first year, things started looking up; however, you still didn't talk for yourself much during that second year. When you were 2, you made your first friend (well, she was actually my friend but you thought the world of her). The few years following that were full of ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade moving from the big red house, where there was an endless supply of mud, to an apartment fit for three. After that, the best thing happened: we moved into Nana and Pops house (p.s. thanks, y'all!), just so Mommy could go back to school in order to provide for us!

Then came those wonderful years where I thought you were so annoying but yet, looking back on it, me picking on you only shaped you as a person now. Those first six years were interesting, filled with many tears and firsts for the both of us. You started school, made your first friends, then came a few years of that wonderful sport called football (insert my sarcasm here). However, no matter how late, or how bored I got sitting at those games, it has just helped make you who you are.

Once you decided football wasn't for you, a search for a new sport began. All the while, you spent most of your Saturdays and some Sundays sitting at the pool for me. Once again, it's just building your character. Then came 2012, and you found this wonderful, inspiring sport that I still most of the time don't understand: Tae Kwon Do. It is amazing to see how much you have grown up these past few years. Not only have you grown as a person, but you have begun to fill the many leadership roles that you have there. Tae Kwon Do has not only made you a stronger person, but it has taught you that losing is sometimes okay. It's taught you that you don't always have to win, even though I can still see it on your face when you lose a match or it doesn't go to plan. The sport of Tae Kwon Do has helped you in more ways than I think you know.

Then just last year, I moved off to school. Even though I'm only 20ish minutes down the road, it is like we never see each other. But, that is a good thing, because we always have something to tell each other when we finally see each other. I can tell that me not being home to drive you (and Angelina, Isabella and Joe) around sometimes puts a damper on things. However, I am so glad that you have such a great girlfriend, friend, and forever friend in those three. I would trade anything to just come home to drive y'all around, to take y'all to the movies because ya know, I did that for awhile there. Doing life with you and your friends makes it interesting.

With all that being said, I am so super proud of the person that you are becoming. I can't wait to see what all the Lord has in store for your life. Who knows, maybe a trip to the Olympics? Love you, always and forever your BIG sister (even though most people think that you are older than me just because you are taller).

Love you,

Sissy