Day 59-Superwoman

Hey guys,

     So, I'm kinda spoiled in the sense that not only do I have an older sister, but I also have 4 older cousins who I know I can turn to when I need it. Tonight, I'm going to blog about ONE of those amazing cousins, not because she's any better than the rest, but I feel a real and strong connection to her. Clara basically lived her childhood essentially NOT ever seeing the cousins on her Mom's side, she is seven years older than my sister, and my sister is five years older than me, so Clara and I are twelve years apart. Also, we grew up 17 hours away from each other. Nonetheless, from the time I met her at 7 years old, she made an impact on me and I made a place for her in my heart. In fifth grade, I even wrote a poem about her, and we mailed it to her(I hope you still have it....because we forgot to make a copy....)! Anyways, although we grew up apart from each other and have really only seen each other 3 times that I can remember, we have always had a connection.

    Two years ago, that connection deepened immensely, when we found out that she had brain cancer. I have seen time and time again, that when you experience struggles and hardships, it also brings you closer to your family. I am so blessed to have her as a cousin, and I am so grateful for that fact. It would have been easy for us to have no connection with our extended family because of the distance, but on BOTH sides of the family, my parents made an effort to be involved as much as they could. Every year since I was a baby, we would drive down to Kansas City to spend Thanksgiving with my dad's family, rain, snow, sleet, hail, we NEVER missed a year. I have so many fond memories of sitting around the thanksgiving table with all my family and eating and talking, and just enjoying ourselves.

    I am grateful for all my cousins, but this post is about CLARA, so I'm going to talk about CLARA. Clara reminds me a lot of myself, I see the determination and strong headedness that I have and finally realize...so it IS genetic! We are both incredibly creative and artsy, I always thought I'd gotten it from my Dad(he majored in art), but then I have like NO skills at drawing anything, so it confused me, but now I see! Clara's personality is JUST as quirky and funky as mine, which I can see is a Gatlin trait, it is in my sister, me, Clara, and her two sisters. But we are each an individual, we are quirky and funky in a way that no one else is, but we compliment each other perfectly. Clara has unending energy(YES, exactly like me...), no matter how many errands she has to run, how many misplaced pairs of shoes she had to find that morning, how many CRAZY blonde curls she had to brush out, she never seems to let that bother her, she always does her best to be positive about each and every situation, and I love that about her. I love how much time and devotion she puts into everything she does, whether it's friends, family, work, cooking, and keep in mind, SHE IS ALSO FIGHTING CANCER!! Is that amazing, or what? She is legitimately like super woman, dealing with about a million different things, but at the same time, she finds time to love her daughters, her husband, her sisters, her parents, her step-dad, AND, her cousins!

    Clara, you are indeed a force to be reckoned with, you are strong, powerful, beautiful and AMAZING in every way possible. I love you, and I am proud to have you as a cousin and to get to BE your cousin, you will never cease to bring a smile to my face, and I LOVE that about you!
<3 Always,
Rose