Happy Birthday Sis

I would have to say, my earliest memory involving just Sara and me is also one of my fondest. I'm not sure how old I was, but it occurred at the farm so I had to be 5 or younger (meaning Sara was 10 or younger). On the farm, for some unknown reason, we had two chinchillas. For those of you not familiar with chinchillas, they are pretty much cute little rabbit-squirrel creatures that are very furry and can run like the wind. One day, Sara and I were cleaning the cage outside. I believe it was my job to watch the two animals and make sure they didn't take off. They took off. Naturally, I freaked out and started chasing them. You can imagine how much faster a rabbit can run than a 5 year old. There was a real sense of panic between the two us considering how much trouble we thought we would get in if they got away and being faced with the almost impossible task of catching the little buggers. But, they thankfully stayed together and we were able to corner and catch them after a lengthy chase across our massive yard.

After we moved to Lindsay, Sara taught me how to do pretty much everything as I grew up. As Dirk mentioned, this included skiing but she also taught me how to play baseball. Her teaching method for learning how to catch was simple: 1) throw the ball as hard as you can at the body, so that the person must catch it to avoid serious injury and 2) verbally berate the person if they move out of the way. I can't give her credit for inventing this, because seeing Ryan with Dryden, its clear that he taught Sara this way. But it was surprisingly effective. The speed at which she whipped the ball also taught me to catch in the pocket of the glove to avoid a throbbing, painful palm.

There are tons of great memories I have of Sara, these are just the first two that popped in my head so I thought I'd share them. I think about Sara all the time, mostly when I'm walking somewhere by myself. Sometimes its just her face, other times discrete moments we shared. I think its important that we have a day like today, where we can take a few minutes and really consider what she meant to us and to others. I miss you very much Sara, and I will love you always.

Jim Bob