Today, I want to talk a little bit about a faithful little follower of our blog that is near and dear to our hearts. She doesn’t have kids but she reads and tells us how she loves each of our posts on parenting, lifestyle, recipes, etc… She’s our littlest sister and she turns 14 tomorrow. I dedicate this post to her because since I’ve moved into the basement below her I’ve come to realize even more just what a good hearted, kind and genuine soul she is. She is quite the little lady I tell ya but I’ll have to go into a little more detail because quite frankly, if you knew her, you’d want to be like her, and if you had some of her awesome qualities, the world really would be better off.
3 WAYS WE SHOULD ALL BE MORE LIKE MY LITTLE SISTER:
Be quick to apologize: We have an ongoing joke in my apartment that down here is a NO SORRY zone. Our little sister is always the first to apologize for every little thing. She says sorry when it’s her fault or not, when she has nothing to do with the problem, when she feels she might be inconveniencing someone, etc. . .
Obviously it can be a bit extreme at times and that’s why we tease her about the NO SORRY zone. She doesn’t need to apologize for absolutely everything but I’m so impressed at her humility. I feel like those are the 2 most difficult words to say in the English language. I’m Sorry. It involves completely letting go of your pride and acknowledging that you feel remorse for something or someone. I don’t think we need to say sorry for every little thing but most of us could probably learn from her in instead of passing around blame or letting pride keep us from good relationships, we could be quick to offer a sincere apology or empathy towards how someone is feeling.
Take notice of everyone: One thing I have always admired in my little sister, and especially lately as I’m around her more, is her ability to take notice of every one who’s around her. She almost never lets anyone pass by her without her offering them a smile and a friendly “hello!”. We were in the store the other day and she stroke up a conversation with the lady who was checking our groceries out. At the end the lady said, “Thank you for being so nice!” When we arrived home and I was concentrated on taking all the groceries in, she noticed our elderly neighbor outside working on his lawn. She asked how he was doing and complimented his hat. They talked and laughed for a little while about how he pays more for the duct tape that keeps his hat together than he paid for the actual hat. It seemed like a regular occurrence, the two of them talking. She’s only 13 and she’s friends with all the elderly in our neighborhood (and I mean this literally. She goes grocery shopping with them, learns how to crochet and knit, and talks about each of them as though they were her own age.) Everyone who encounters my little sister always leaves feeling a little more love.
Service: This girl is always working on improving herself and serving the people surrounding her. She is almost always willing to help out, even when she hasn’t been asked. For a lot of this summer she showed up at our local community center to help serve lunch. At first, she went with friends but even once her friends stopped going, she still showed up every week. I asked her one day if she absolutely had to go and her reply was, “well I don’t have to. . . but they don’t have a lot of people to help serve and so it takes them longer if I’m not there to help.” What 13 year old serves at a community center by herself in her free time?? I sure didn’t. She serves without wanting praise. She serves because she genuinely cares and I love that about her.
We could all be a little more like my 13 (almost 14) year old sister by letting go of our pride, stepping outside of our comfort zone, smiling and taking notice of people, and taking that extra step to better serve one another every day. She makes the world a better place, one smile and packed lunch at a time.
Happy 14th Birthday Julie. We sure wouldn’t be the family we are today without you as a part of it.
