Kandy

 

If there has ever been a person that has been with me through the thick and thin, I can say it is Kandace. Very little of my life has been without her. I can vaguely remember holding her for the first time. Daddy laid her in my little arms. "Meet your sister." I smiled like only a 3 1/2 year old could as I looked down into the quiet infant's face.

 

The "quiet" infant was only pretending to be calm. She turned out to be an energetic, curly headed doll of a child. She learned to talk incredibly early and learned to drive me crazy even earlier. She was the kind of child that had an imaginary friend. She cut the hair off of our cats, yet she cried if she saw a dead animal on the side of the road. She could sing perfect harmony before most kids can hold down the melody to a tune. Her little heart accepted Jesus at the age of four.

 

I can remember sitting in the middle of the playroom floor with her, completely surrounded by Barbies. We had every possible Barbie item you could have. The camper, houses, pools, cars, furniture and countless clothes. We had stories that would go on with our Barbies for literal weeks. We were dedicated. We also played outside and explored together. We spent days, weeks and years sitting side by side at the school table. We learned together. We went everywhere together. Katy and Kandace.

 

 

We nearly killed each other. Never has a child had such an ability to pull hair, but neither has a child had a sweeter hug. She made me so mad I could explode, yet I wouldn't have been the same without her. She was the one I cried with when the adoptions were hard. She was the one I locked arms with when no one understood.

 

Time passed and we got older. We sang together in church. She wasn't afraid of things like I was. She often pushed through life with more vigor than I did. I used to ask her to go order food for me at restaurants. She would roll her eyes and hop up to help "the scardy cat" out.

 

I was the serious one. She was... not. We're still that way. Now she's taller than me. She is 14 years old. She's almost 15. To me she is still four years old and bouncing around the house with her curls blowing in the wind. No matter what, she has stuck by me. We're together. We never went through a "stage" where we "hated" each other. Mom and Dad taught us that love is the only option. So it was. It is. We take care of each other. She borrows my clothes and I borrow hers. We sit in church on Sundays side by side. 

 

I would be lying to say that leaving her is easy. She has always been my best friend. It is hard for her too. I'm leaving, not because I love her less, but because I have to go with the one who I am supposed to be with. She knows that.

 

She'll always be my sister. Time nor distance can change how close we are. She has done more for me in the past few months than I will never know. She has chosen to trust her sister, her friend. She'll always be the one who can finish my sentences. She'll always be the one who sings perfect harmony to my melody. I've watched her grow into a girl after God's heart. She'll always be Kandy. My little sister. Now she'll be my Maid of Honor.

 

Thank you, Kan. Thanks for being my best friend. I'm always here for you. I love you!