Happy Birthday, Laura

So apparently I'm a big fat slacker when it comes to my birthday posts. I've now missed four birthdays on my side of the family. Luckily two of those people never check this blog and another one of those people is only 2 so she doesn't know the difference. So I guess technically I only missed one...

That one however, happens to be one of my most favorite people in the entire world, my sister-in-law, Laura. She embodies all of the characteristics I want and she has had an unspeakable impact on my life since the day she entered it over a dozen years ago.

I would love to show a picture of Laura to be able to put a face with the name, and because picture-less posts bug me, but she is a master at avoiding pictures of herself (which is too bad because she's gorgeous). In fact I searched my entire photo collection as well as her entire blog and couldn't find a single picture of her alone. Even the supply of Laura in group shots is small. I finally pulled out my huge box of old, miscellaneous snapshots and I found JD & Laura's engagement picture and figured that would have to do. But then my scanner, for the first time since its birth, wouldn't work! I'm tellin' you the girl's got some sort of secret power to keep pictures of her from being displayed!

Aside from her secret power in the picture department, Laura is amazingly creative. Her house looks like a Pottery Barn or Ikea catalogue and she is well known for always finding the most unique items (ie: a hydraulic high chair, chair lifts for the kitchen chairs, etc.). She's also a very talented photographer and comes up with the coolest ways to display art. In fact she took the picture of Kiara that is the header on this blog. It's one of my favorite pics ever!

Laura is also ridiculously smart. She is the only reason I passed Algebra, coming over to our house almost every night to help me with my homework and taking the time to be patient with my ignorance. Nobody else has ever been able to make math make sense to me like she did.

Laura made a big mistake early on in her marriage to my brother, and that is telling me that I could come to her with any problem. Because I have...over and over and over again. She was my biggest confidant all through my teenage years, well into my life on my own, and now as an adult. I've called her too many times to count, crying and going on about my own trials and drama. All the while she listens to and consoles me, never mentioning her own heartache or pain, of which she's had way too much.

There have also been several days when I've been feeling alone or down when Laura has called for no apparent reason and reminded me I'm loved. She has always been that person to lift me up and pull me out of my funks and she will never know how much she means to me.

One particular time when Laura was my lifesaver was when our family was going through a rough patch. I wasn't married yet but was living on my own and was kind of floundering. There was one night early in to the journey when I was feeling very scared and vulnerable because of news that had been shared with us. My brother wouldn't let me go home to sleep alone and he and Laura insisted I stay at their house. They even made me a little bed on the floor of their room because they knew how important it was to me to be near my family and feel safe. It worked.

Almost exactly 5 years later I was in that same room with my face buried in Laura's shoulder as I sobbed uncontrollably over the loss of my little baby. They were tears my sweet sister knew all too well and the emotions I described were ones she has been forced to endure all too often. Yet she just listened and allowed me to feel what I was feeling, never once turning the situation back to herself or taking time to make it about her. She has felt this pain deeper than I ever will yet carries herself with ultimate grace and dignity. She is the definition of humble and selfless and if my life depended on it, I could not think of a single thing I dislike about her.

One of the happiest days of my life was when Laura became a mother. To watch her with Macy is a beautiful thing. She absolutely adores her daughter and finds joy in every aspect of parenting. Never has a child been wanted and longed for more than that little girl. And I think Macy was equally excited to come to her mom & dad. She knew the family that awaited her and now that she has them here she's not letting go!

Happy belated Birthday, Laur. Thank you for everything you have done for me in my life. I would be much less of a person without your influence and when I grow up I want to be just like you!