My Hero

When I was a little girl I loved dolls, Barbies, girly books, and clothes. I liked my friends to like the same thing. Imagine my intense joy when I got a step sister who was about as girly as Erin. ( That means she wasn't girly at all!) My new sister was about the same size as I was and we even wore the same size shoe. We started sharing a room every other weekend when we were little girls, maybe seven or eight.....I don't remember many years that she wasn't part of my life. Then when we were about nine, she became my full time sister, room mate, and best friend. We shared EVERYTHING. When I left for college, I think she had two outfits, since she usually just borrowed my clothes. But she missed me, I know she did because she came to the same college I did!

Obviously I am talking about Mac. I have four sisters and a brother. They are all very special to me in their own way. Mac is different. We haven't known each other since birth but it feels like we have always been together. We are still super duper NOT alike. She hates make up, talking on the phone, girl time, girly stuff, and just about everything else I love. She does however love my children and laughing, which we do every time we are together. But somehow we are identical in ways I can not describe.

SO, why is Mac my hero. Oh my gosh.....ok......hummmm.....how to even begin to put this into words. Mac is the only friend that I have always been able to count on. She has had a great deal of adversity in her life and she has always come out on top. Mac and I were a part of many different journeys but one I am so proud to say I have been a part of with her.  About ten years ago I had this bright idea to do the MS Challenge Walk. It is a 3 day 50 mile walk. Well we did it and she completed all 50 miles, I did not. Year two we did the walk again together and again she completed the walk and I did not. Year three I was a volunteer for the walk and guess what....yeah yeah yeah.....150 miles down for our girl! Year four I was getting married so I had tons of wedding stuff and you guessed it 200 miles. Year five I was pregnant with Mason so I was not there for the 250th mile. Year six I don't remember why I wasn't there but Mac said she was going to walk until there was a cure for MS. Year seven I was expecting Kade so mile 350 was checked off her list. Year eight the whole family surprised Mac for the 400th mile. That was pretty cool. Last year Mac finished her 450th mile becoming one of three I think to walk every mile for nine years! Hero......right! ( Oh there is more!)

So this year, YEAR 10 and 500 miles......PREGNANT! Well THANK GOODNESS Mac has enough common sense to NOT walk all 50 miles, but yes she is walking 8 months pregnant. Day one of year 10, she walked 12 miles!  So HERO.....I think about when I was expecting Mason and Kade. I was hardly willing to do much of anything I did not have to, let alone walk a whole whole lot. But Mac, she is a different breed. When she says she is going to do something, she does. She and baby Charlie are doing this walk and nothing, not even a lot of doctors and concerned friends are going to stop her.

So back to the whole Hero thing. I have met about a bazillion people so far. Mac is her own woman. She does not care what anyone thinks. She is secure in her own skin. She is a fighter. She never gives up and does exactly what she sets out to do. She is dedicated. She loves her family, her students, her husband, and her sweet little boy Charlie. She is doing this walk so he can enjoy his Grandpa Nowell. Mac possess something, I have yet to figure out exactly what it is, that very few people have.

When I had Mason, Mac was in the delivery room. She was there for me when I had boyfriend trouble, friend trouble, or was grounded. She was there when my first marriage failed, when I got it right the second time, when I found out I was going to be a mom. Shouldn't she be there to see my first child born?! She was also there when Kade was born. Every big event in my life, she has been there.

I can not explain how special Mac is to me. I can not explain how I know we were destined to be sisters. I can explain that I have something not many others have. I had a poster that said "chance made us sisters, hearts made us friends." That is Mac. Chance made us sisters, but she is my best friend. I have something so special in my sister Mac that I wish I could bottle and sell.....I would be beyond rich! But having her in our lives make us rich! She gives something to this family that no amount of money can buy.

Day one of this years MS Walk, she walked 12 miles while being 8 months pregnant. Day two she has already started walking again. I know this is a super rambling post but I am so proud of her. She is going to be a mom, she is happily married, she is an amazing Nationally Board Certified teachers, she is so many things......she is my hero.