Samantha+my hero=my sister!

Last week Adam and I had company over. They are great friends of ours. Misty and Justin were both in our wedding. Two great people. Misty didn’t know much about myspace and she asked me if I would show her some stuff. We got to the "Hero" section on the "About me" stuff. She joked around asking me "Who is your Hero, Tiffany? But it really got me to thinking.

Who is my Hero? One person comes to mind...Samantha, my sister. She has been through so much in her life. And I am so blessed to have her as my sister. Everyone could be so lucky to have a sister like her. She is the most loving, beautiful, supportive, and the strongest person I know.

When I was in Jayton over half the Easter weekend I asked Samantha if I could take some photos of her. She agreed. But before I post them I really would like to you take the time to read about her life and why I would say she is my hero.

So here is her story (from my dad)

When she was just a newborn she was diagnosed with mental retardation. And she had to undergo open heart surgery in which she was not expected to make it through. I guess God had a plan and kept her here. Of that my family is lucky and blessed. She was our families miracle child.

When she was in kindergarten she was held back from missing to much school. I believe it was because of tubes being placed in her ears and I think she had to undergo another major surgery.

When she was in 4th grade (I was in 3rd) she contracted pneumonia. We were in Austin when she caught it. But it got worse when we got home. She started running a dangerously high fever. My dad rushed her to Rotan (the nearest hospital). She was in the hospital for weeks. When she got home she was on various breathing treatments.

In highschool alot of the people were mean to her because she is the way she is. All she wanted was to fit in. But alot of people didn’t accept her. I even stood up for her at times.

She has taught me so much about life. I’m lucky to have her as a sister. She has opened my eyes. Sometimes this world can be so superficial. It breaks my heart to see people like her being put down. She is one of the best people in the world. But some people may not get to know what kind of person she is just because of the way she may look or the way she talks. (She has a speach impediment.) And it breaks my heart. If only I could have the heart that she does. I could only hope to have the strength that she does. For all the things that she has been through the smile that she has has never left her face. I could only hope to have that same strength.

So when someone now asks me..."Who is your hero?" my answer will be "my sister"

I decided to post some OLD photos of us first =) Enjoy!!
(I didn’t have any photos of just her..I know...awful...So here are some sisterly love photos!)


I’m on the Right...Samantha is on the left











Now here are some photos from the weekend!!