A Salute to My Little Sister

I don't have pictures yet, but we haven't posted in forever so I thought I should let everyone know what's up with us lately. Well, my little sister, Amanda, has been soul searching for a while. She started at Iowa State and decided that was too big, so she moved back home to Sioux City and has been attending a local community college there and working at Texas Roadhouse. Recently, she decided to enlist with the Army National Guard and the past couple of weeks has been going through physicals and tests to make sure she is smart enough and healthy enough to join. Tomorrow afternoon she will be sworn in at Camp Dodge and while I don't understand her choice entirely, I am so incredibly proud of her. I think maybe part of it, is that I wish I was brave enough to do things like she does. Amanda has never been afraid to be herself, I've always been a little jealous of that. When you're the oldest kid, you don't really have that luxury all the time, you turn into the person that other people need you to be, it's your responsibility (a privilege for me, I love helping people). Yet, there was always a part of me that wished I could be as carefree and off-the-cuff as her. Not afraid to say what she thinks and full of spontaneity, she's just....awesome. I'm going to miss her when she has to be gone for basic training and tech school, and I'll worry like a mother if she gets deployed somewhere, but for now, I'll just be happy that she has found something she feels so passionately about, and that she is offering her service to this Great Nation. I love you little sister!