Superstar Siblings

My mom sent me a Mother's Day card, which in and of itself is awesome because, hello, she's my mom and she is sending me a card. Anyway, on the card she wrote "We are amazed by all you do." This phrase has given me a lot to think about over the past couple of days. I don't think that I do anything above and beyond what other working moms do. And the things that I do, do, I'm not sure that I do them well enough to be amazed by them. This is especially true when you put what I do into perspective with what my siblings have done, gone through, or are currently going through.

• I have never had to suffer the pain of a failed marriage and losing two children. But my brother has.
• I have never had to suffer the uncertainty/stress of having a husband who hasn't worked since February and has trouble finding work because we live in an industry-barren community. But my sister has AND she has a life-threatening chronic condition.
• I have never had to try and manage two different life-threatening conditions while suffering from a learning disability that makes just managing every day life difficult. But one of my brothers has.
• I have never had to try and balance going to medical school with providing for my family. But my youngest brother has.

This sounds so cliche, but my siblings have learned how to make lemonade out of the lemons they were given.

My divorced brother re-married and has 3 beautiful children with his lovely wife. His ability to rebound has been remarkable and I am in awe that his faith never seemed to waiver through all his years of turmoil with his ex-wife.

My sister's versatility is amazing as she finds ways to make ends meet while her husband waits for his work to pick back up. She calls herself a "one woman temp agency". She cracks me up and her positive, "things will work out" attitude is truly remarkable to me.

My brother with the life-threatening conditions probably has the hardest draw since his learning disability really does hamper his critical thinking skills. Yet, each day he wakes up and has a new plan for how he is going to support his family. He is currently attending the local community college to improve himself and his job skill set.

My brother in medical school just welcomed his 2nd child into the world early Monday morning. He and his wife are fabulous parents. I know that he takes his job as student very seriously. But he also takes his role as father just as serious. He does home improvement projects when he has time, spends quality time with his 2 year old, faithfully fulfills his calling at church and I'm sure will help as much as he can with the new little guy.

My siblings are the every day heroes and I am amazed by all that they do. Growing up I always heard, "you are the oldest and need to set the example for the younger kids." Well I can tell you that I often look to my younger siblings as examples because of all that they dealt with and continue to deal with.

Mom, I hope you let my sister and sister-in-laws know how awesome they are and that you are amazed by all that they do.