Saluting My Siblings: A Lifelong Gift

April 10 is Siblings Day, a day to celebrate God's wonderful gift of siblings. It's totally fitting that most of the family photos of me as a baby include one or more of my siblings. I was my parents' fifth child and over the next 10 plus years, I gained three younger siblings.

 They say I was a whiny baby, but that didn't seem to bother my older sisters and brother.

When we were kids, most of the photos Dad took were on Easter, Christmas or other special days.

In big families, kids are often paired up or grouped together. I always knew my older siblings had my back, even when I was just a little girl.

My big brother Butch knew I was his responsibility. He looked out for me as we got older too. Once he told a guy who wanted to date me, "Hurt my sister and I'll kill you." I think he was serious too!

My sister Debbie was my first roommate and remained my roommate until we got married and left home. Debbie is the closest sister to me in age and our kids grew up together. Although we lived 1,000 miles apart, our kids spent time with each other whenever I went back home to visit.

What a cute sisters picture of the four of us. Kathy and Sue were so much older than me that I didn't spend too much time with them as a kid. 

I once asked my Mom how she handled having so many kids, when just three was sometimes overwhelming to me. She said that each time a new baby was born, she told the next older child that this was their baby to help take care of. So, my younger brother Mike became 'my' baby, just as I had become my older brother Butch's baby.

I have so many fond memories of time spent with Mike. I thought of him as my partner in crime and, as I got older I led him into trouble more than once. Hopefully he forgives me now for not being the best influence in my teen years!

I still think of my brother Pat as my baby brother, even though he's way taller than me now and has five kids of his own. Pat was such a cute baby, but I picked on him a lot when he got a little older. My favorite taunt was, "Pat's got white hair." Sorry for that, Pat, but now it's true!

What a cute group of seven siblings we were back in the day, all dressed in our Easter best. Who knows how we managed to take this photograph with everyone's hair in place and no stains on anybody's clothing! Kudos to Mom and Dad for this picture.

One of the biggest days in my life as a little girl was my First Communion day. Dad took photos of me with each of my siblings and even a couple with Mom, who hated having her picture taken. This is one of the few photos I have of just me with my oldest sister Sue.

This is also one of the few photos I have of just me with my older sister Kathy when I was a kid, although I have more of us together as adults. I always looked up to Kathy, who was a wonderful role model for all of us younger kids.

Just as me, Butch and Debbie were grouped together when I was little, me, Mike and Pat were grouped together when Pat was little. We look like we're cooking up some sort of mischief!

This is one of my favorite photos of what a carefree childhood looked like back in the day. Butch, me, Mike and Pat were just hanging out together on a summer day. Life was so much easier then!

Scouting was a 'thing' in our family. Mom was a Girl Scout leader for many years and Dad was a Boy Scout leader. This back in the day photo of me and Debbie in our Girl Scout uniforms is a great reminder of the values we learned in our family and in scouting. 

And then there were eight. Baby Nancy was born when we lived in Alabama. Like me, Nancy was a whiny baby who was raised in part by her seven siblings. She'll always be the baby to me!

After Nancy was born, Daddy started taking me, Mike and Pat lots of places to get us "out of your Mother's hair." This photo was from one of our many outings with Dad.

Having a little sister so many years younger than me was like having my own live baby doll. This photo was taken when Nancy was just learning to walk. She was a hot mess, getting into everything. I wrote an essay about "Tornado Nancy" for school about this time.

Sunflowers are the state flower of Kansas. That year me, Mike and Pat planted sunflowers in the back yard, Daddy accidentally mowed Pat's sunflower down. Poor Pat was doing the best he could to smile in this photo while holding his mowed-down sunflower to the ground.

Because of the age span in our family, there aren't many photos of the eight of us together. This one was taken for Christmas card photos in 1974, the year before Debbie and I got married.

The five sisters on my wedding day in June 1975.

What a crazy posed photo of me with my brothers on my wedding day!

A back in the day shot of my three brothers in 1994. As always, Butch is cutting up for the camera.

We all made it home for Nancy's wedding in 1994 and what a fine-looking group we were!

Photos of the eight of us with Mom and Dad are even more rare than photos of all eight of us kids. This one was taken at a very happy gathering for Dad's 80th birthday and Mom's 79th birthday. What a blessing that we were all able to be there!

One of many family gatherings at my brother Pat's house. 

One of my favorite pictures of me with my sister, Kathy, who spent a lot of time during recent years caring for our parents as they aged. 

One of my favorite pictures of me with my sister, Debbie, who also helped care for Mom and Dad through the years. Debbie's also one of the siblings who remained close to home. Debbie's kids spent a lot of time at Mom and Dad's when they were growing up.

Maybe the only photo of me and my baby sister, Nancy as adults. She's all grown up now, but we live so far away, we don't get to see each other very often.

The five sisters all together at once. Aren't we cuties!!!

Whenever I'm in Kansas, there's always chocolate on the menu. Baking brownies with my sisters is one of my happy memories of sibling love.

We match and dressed in red, just like back in the day. Me with three of my greatest blessings: Kathy, Debbie and Pat, who are all still living in Kansas and all helped so much with Mom and Dad.

A Siblings Day celebration in 2014 at Pizza Hut. What a joy to spend the day with three of my siblings that year!

Scattered from Virginia to Hawaii and everywhere in between, we all came home for Mom and Dad's final days. I'm so glad we had this photo taken. Mom cherished it until her death and it sat on Daddy's dresser as his life ended too. God blessed Mom and Dad with the eight of us to carry on their legacy. I hope we can live up to the examples they set. Happy Siblings Day to the seven people who've known me the longest. I love you all and am so grateful that God put us all together in one big family!

When A Baby Is Born, God Rejoices

When a baby is born, the parents don't know what the future holds for their child.

Babies are wonderful creations. Each child is knit together in the womb by our loving God.

When a baby is born, God rejoices in that unique person, created in His own image and likeness.

Unlike the parents, God knows each child's destiny and has a plan for each child's future.

When my sister Kathy was born, our parents knew that she was a beloved child of God.

On the day of Kathy's Baptism, Mom and Dad chose Christ's path for Kathy -- as they had for their firstborn and would for all of their children.

In His image, Kathy was molded. By our parents' influence and the influence of others in her life, Kathy learned the ways of God.

As Kathy learned and grew in the faith, God knew the plans He had for her future.

A little girl gazing at the infant Jesus in the manger -- a precious memory and a glimpse into the future.

For God already knew that Kathy was ordained to hear His voice and to respond to His call.

God already knew that He was calling Kathy to be a woman of faith, to accept Christ as her spouse and to teach others the way of the faith through her vocation.

God has a plan for each of His beloved children. He calls each of us to walk with Him, but we don't all respond.

As our mothers look on each of us with love, so God looks on all of His beloved children with a love that's eternal and complete.

Some of us are too busy with the things of this world to hear God's voice, to feel His love, to discern His unique calling.

Some hear God's voice, but choose to ignore it. Others don't know God and can't feel His love.

Every step in our lives, God is with us. He maps out our lives, step by step.

Raised in an Army family, Kathy was exposed to many people with different races, backgrounds and viewpoints.

As Kathy grew, every experience she went through brought her one step closer to God's plan for her.

From coast to coast and across the ocean, Kathy experienced the life God intended her to have.

From a baby into a school girl, Kathy grew in age and wisdom, each day bringing her closer to her destiny.

In big families, it's easy for a child to get lost in the shuffle.

In our big family, the kids wore red jackets when we went places so we were easy to spot,

But no child is ever lost in God's world. He always knows exactly where each of His children is -- and He also knows where each is heading.

Like many Catholic families, our family always attended Mass on Sundays -- but Easter Sunday was extra special.

On this day, we celebrated Christ's victory over death. We wore our best clothes and the girls all wore Easter bonnets, instead of our traditional Sunday chapel veils.

As one of the older children in our family, caring for younger siblings was a task Kathy often handled.

We younger kids knew we could count on Kathy to help us with whatever we needed.

Somewhere along the path, Kathy realized she had a gift for working with young people.

Teaching isn't for everyone, but Kathy had been teaching her younger siblings for years.

Kathy's calling was to teach -- but that's not all that God had in store for her.

After Kathy graduated from the Catholic high school, she was called to attend the local Catholic women's college.

I was in my teens when Kathy took our family out one night and sharer that she'd been called to serve God as a religious sister.

I'm not proud of my reaction -- my biggest concern was what my friends would think and, as always, I spoke just what I was thinking.

Thankfully, Kathy forgave me for my words.

No mom was ever prouder than our Mom when Kathy entered the convent.

Everywhere she went for the rest of her life, Mom told friends and strangers alike about her "nun daughter."

While Kathy was walking her faith journey, Dad was on a journey of his own.

In August 1974, Kathy took her first vows with the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth.

In April 1977, Daddy became a member of the Catholic Church.

On August 12, 1979, Kathy took her final vows, surrounded by her family and the sisters in her order.

As our family grew, Kathy served the Sisters of Charity, teaching in Kansas and Montana. Kathy has always been known as "Favorite Aunt Kathy" to her nieces and nephews.

   

  

Whether in her role as Sister Kathy or as our sister Kathy, she was always ready to pitch in and help wherever and whenever she was needed.

  

In the summer of 1997, we celebrated Kathy's 25th anniversary as a Sister of Charity.

During the same weekend, we also marked Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. Mom and Dad renewed their vows in a family ceremony.

       

As our parents aged, Kathy helped care for them. Kathy continued to work full time, but still managed to get Mom and Dad to medical appointments and keep up with their important information.

 

 

 

God's plan is always perfect; His timing is always right. God blessed our family when he gave Mom and Dad the little baby girl who grew up to be Favorite Aunt Kathy.

God's beloved child Kathy blessed our parents throughout their lives.

Mom and Dad couldn't have imagined the future when they held that tiny baby in their arms.

But God knew that Kathy was just the right child to add to their family.

Our sister Kathy provides a wonderful example of how to live the faith.

The model of service Mom and Dad provided lives on in Kathy's life of service to others.

Service to God, family and the world around her is how Kathy shares the love of God with others.

 Happy Birthday to you, Sister Kathy! We love you and we thank God for the gift that is you!