Small Town Citizen of the Year - My Sister Julie

I have five siblings. They are all wonderful people. I have different sorts of relationships with all of them. LaDonna is my big sister and my hero. LaRina is my baby sister and my partner in adventures. Jay is my brother and one I can go to when I need help of any kind – especially with our parents. Jimmy is the youngest – and he was the hero to my daughters when they were younger.

Julie is really the “baby” sister. She is the youngest of the girls. Julie has a strong sense of family and of community. She, Jay and Jimmy are not my biological siblings, but they are siblings just the same. Their dad married our mom and we became a modern day version of “The Brady Bunch.” It was Julie and LaRina that convinced our parents to marry – and it was great for both of our parents.

I didn’t meet Julie until I was already married and had my two daughters. I saw her at the occasional holidays I was able to attend – the ones that I somehow convinced my ex to allow me to go to. I really got to know her when we both attended the same college. We would meet each other between classes and sit and talk. I learned that she was very much like my other sisters and grew to love her as if we had grown up together.

Julie is a lot like LaRina. Although they are both younger than I am, they have always been more mature than me – more confident in themselves than me. From what I saw of Julie, she was a strong independent young woman who has always had a strong sense of family. Her family is the single most important thing to her. And from what I saw of her when she was younger, she has always been this way. Although her parents were divorced, she loved them both – and her step-mom, my mother when she came along. She called my mother “mom” almost from the start.

She met Kenny and started her own family when she was young. She went on to have four boys – and helped take care of our niece, Tasha, while LaRina had to work. For a while, she was a stay at home mom and took great care of her boys. After a while, she became a Realtor and began selling homes all over her small town. She made it into the “Million Dollar” sellers list on many occasions.

In between selling homes, she went to almost every school and sports event for her boys. In all of this, she also became an important part of the community, volunteering for just about any event that was held in town. This led to her being named “Citizen of the Year” last year, an honor that she truly deserved. If the town had a “Mom of the Year” she would win that honor, as well.

Although I didn’t get to meet Julie until she was all grown up, she is as much a sister to me as my other sisters are. When I was going through my horrible divorce, LaRina let me stay with her and Julie helped me to find the first home I had ever had on my own. She found the perfect place for me and I was able to get back on my feet because of this.

I am very proud to call Julie my sister….