Jennifair

In third grade, my oldest sister, Jennifer, had a teacher who spoke Francais (that's French in French, by the way). Anyway, he would tell the kids what their names would sound like in French, and Jennifer sounded like Jenny-fair. If you know Jenn, Jennifair is quite fitting. She is very sweet and feminine and beautiful, as in "the fairest of them all." Luckily, we don't have a wicked step-mother who tried to feed Jenn poisonous apples and other such treacheries to kill her off. No, our Mom was very grateful to have Jenn around, as were all of us. And, we still are, of course. Jenn is the sister who took Spencer into her home and took care of him while I was in the hospital. Her name, to me, is synonymous with service. Here's another example: After I had Andrew, I was complaining to Jenn that I didn't have a crib skirt and bumper and that Andrew was constantly getting his legs caught between the bars of the crib and waking up, screaming in pain. A few days later, Jenn showed up with a beautiful bundle of white and blue in her arms and said, "Here you go." She had watched Andrew for us and while we were gone, she had measured the crib and had quietly made Andrew a perfect, cute skirt and bumper. She probably would have liked to have snuck in and put it on, so I wouldn't even know it was her. That's Jenn.
Also, a few weeks after I had Spencer and my Mom had gone back home to California, I was having a hard, tired day taking care of four boys. I had had only a couple hours of sleep, and no one would take naps at the same time for me to get a rest. Sound familiar to anyone? Anyway, Jenn happened to call in the middle of it, and I was so tired I couldn't even do my fake "happy" voice I try to use when I'm tired and I know there's nothing anyone can do, so I just tried to convince her and myself that I would be fine. Forty-five minutes later (the time it takes to get from Jenn's house to ours) Jenn was on my doorstep with her own two kids. I answered the door, she took Spencer, turned to me, and said, "Nap time!" I hugged her and cried as I walked up to bed, so exhausted and even more grateful.

Anyway, I've been thinking about the many stories like that of Jenn lately, since we moved Spencer into the crib and I get to see this cute, amazing thing every time I put him to bed. Other stories of Jenn include sharing a room with me (which we kept very clean and always had a beautiful bowl of candy on the nightstand), taking me to the mall with her, driving all the way from Utah to help me get ready for proms, (including putting rags in my hair the night before so that every ringlet was perfect and not one hair was left out), laughing on the floor of the theater at movies because something was so funny or scary and going to those movies late at night in our awesome pajamas, helping me heal after having my heart broken when I was a dramatic, crazy teenager, staying with me all day when I was alone in my hospital room and Andrew had to be transferred to the NICU at another hospital right after he was born. Anyway, I could go on for days. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing big sister. And to all you family members reading this, (I have two parents, two older sisters, two younger sisters, one younger brother, and one older brother and their spouses and kids, who are all stupendous) don't worry, I plan on writing about you too! Anyway, I hope you don't mind that I did this, Jenn. The secret's out! You are amazing and I love you!!