My Lindsey (Happy Sweet 16!)

I remember the day she was born.

At 3 years and almost 4 months old, I had taken a nap on the bed in the guest bedroom at my grandparents' house (dad's parents'), affectionately [still] called the "indian room" because of all of the native American artifacts my half-Cherokee grandfather had collected and put in there. I woke up to my grandma looking down at me with a twinkle in her eyes. "We're going to the hospital!" she told me excitedly.

It took a while to put my shoes on, and then we hopped into her car, and drove to the hospital. Walked inside, strolled to the elevator, pressed a button, walked out of the elevator, walked down the hall, and stepped into a room, where my parents waited for us. My other grandparents were there, as well.

And there she was, wrapped tightly in a blanket in my other grandma's arms.

From watching home videos of that moment, I obviously didn't think too badly of her.

Over the next few years, we became sidekicks. Partners in crime. I called her "MY Lindsey." I got her into some pretty nasty scrapes (almost literally), especially when we first moved into our new house in Springdale. When she was almost a year old, I chased her around a coffee table, and she tripped and hit her head on the edge, causing her to get stitches on her eyebrow. Apparently just an inch farther down, and she would've probably lost an eye. Several years later, when she was 4 and I was 7, she climbed onto my desk from my bed, but got scared and couldn't get down. Being the good big sister that watched out for her, I grabbed her legs out from underneath her to pull her down and... Yeah. It obviously didn't end well. She banged her head against the edge of the desk and sliced her head open. Mom took her to the ER to get a staple in her head, while Grandma came over and we cleaned up the blood... Just the guilt of hurting my sister was enough punishment for me! (Yeah, I've always been a bit of a klutz...)

Years passed, and we were still the best of friends. When joined with the other two cousins, we would always plan out secret spy missions on the adults at Christmastime, and when they caught us and asked us what we were doing, we would always say we were "Y-P-S-ing" (the word SPY backwards, in case you didn't catch that) so they wouldn't figure out what we were REALLY doing. So, we snuck back to a back bedroom and planned out a second course of action and tried again.

Lindsey was always a good dancer. There's a home video of us dancing when we were really little, but when she was only a year old, she was already dancing up a storm (which was basically her hopping around, but it was adorable nonetheless). We both took dance lessons for a LONG time, starting at four years old. I stopped taking them at age 10 or 11, and so did she, but then she kept going with competitive cheerleading, and she's been doing that for 6-7 years. She absolutely loves it, and she's pretty stinking amazing at it. Every competition I go to, I start to choke up to keep from crying when her team goes on the stage and performs. I am SUPER proud of her for everything she's accomplished in cheer!

When I started middle school, that's when I really felt like we started drifting apart. I would always come home crying and depressed and wouldn't even talk to Lindsey. Then I started looking down on her because she was younger and she didn't understand what I was going through. She got the hint after a while, and thus began the act of distancing herself from me. After that, we fought constantly, every day, about the stupidest little things. It got to where we would claw at each other, kicking and biting each other. It was awful. I really regret distancing myself from her. After a few years, I felt convicted, and tried apologizing to her. She accepted it, but it would be years before she would let me be her best friend again. She's always been an introverted person, but she became even more so with me. Little by little, she began to trust me again.

This year, since going to college, we rarely see each other during the week. I think she began to miss me, and we've grown a lot closer this year. Even though we are complete opposites of each other, we've both matured and moved past most of those things, and have learned to enjoy each others' company and to talk with each other about anything. I can always tell her stuff that's going on in my life, and she's started doing the same with me.

Looking at her now, I am amazed at what I see. I see a stunning young woman with so much talent and beauty (inside and out). She used to have bleach blonde hair until her preteen years, and now it's a beautiful light brown (despite what she may think about it). Bright emerald green eyes that she always covers up with eyeshadow and mascara (of which she needs none of it at all!). A dazzling smile that's always refreshing to see. A mysteriousness about her that I still haven't figured out. A maturity beyond most teenage girls. She doesn't care about boys or dating, won't put up with people's drama, doesn't care about pleasing everybody. She can be saucy, yet super sweet. Several nights, I will come home feeling super stressed out, and she comes into my room and gives me back and shoulder massages without asking. She is also TONS of fun! She is mischievous. Family is everything to her. She loves animals more than the average person. She paints her nails every other day. She hates jeans. And yes, she is definitely a dork! She is merely her unique, wonderful self.

She's got an amazing talent for art. Every time she completes a project, I am always amazed at how fantastic it is. MY sister drew this?! MY sister painted this?

So hard to believe she's sixteen already. Yet, it isn't surprising, because it feels like she should've been sixteen a long time ago. People often mistake her for being older than me, which she loves to rub in my face. She also likes to think she's more mature than me. That's what she thinks. ;)

To sum up, I have one amazing sister that God has blessed me with. Lindsey Marie Townsend, I cannot thank you enough for being there for me and supporting me in everything I do. I know I've messed up so many times with our friendship and have failed you daily in being a good sister. Yet, you still love me and move past those things. I love you so much, and I cannot wait to see what God has planned for your future!