Today is the best day to write about my sister.
Katherine Annette Jett was born on December 9, 1993 at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, NJ. It had been Bill and me ruling the Jett house up until that point, so gaining a new member of the family was pretty exciting.
When I think of Kate, SINGING comes to mind. This girl has been singing for as long as I can remember, probably ever since she learned how to talk. And it's not just the fact that she sings--she happens to be excellent at it. When she was just three years old, she sang at Margaret Mace's annual Spring Concert--"I Love You" from Barney, in English AND in Spanish--and she brought down the house that night. The entire audience was amazed by that wonderful voice came from that little girl! Katie still sings and she is spectacular. I used to get nervous when she sang in front of people, as if I were the one singing, but I don't get nervous anymore because I know she won't disappoint.
SPORTS is another thing about Kate. It's not just the fact that she plays sports, she happens to be great at them. She plays soccer, basketball, and softball but her specialty is softball. She was named to the Cape May County All-Star Team as a FRESHMAN this past school year. She plays the sport year round--she's THAT good. She is a fantastic shortstop and she has become a very good pitcher, too. I can see her playing on the BYU softball team in a few years.
Katie is also SMART. She always won awards at MMS for being the top student in every subject and she had one of the highest GPAs at Wildwood Catholic this past year. With me being me and Bill being Bill, I think the WCHS teachers were a little apprehensive because they didn't know what to expect when they met Katie. Would she be a Bill or would she be a Mary? I think that she has good qualities from the both of us--which makes her one unique person who is not me or Bill. She is Katie.
I said today was the best day to write about my sister because it is. Chris, Lizzie, and I went to Cherry Hill NJ Stake Youth Conference 2009--just last night and this morning--but what I saw of Kate made me realize many things.
1. As I am married and now a Killion, and as Bill is serving a mission in Colombia, she is now the eldest child and many of our former responsibilities fall on her now. It has to be different now than from her days as the middle child.
2. She continues to surprise. Kate will show insight or shine exuberantly when you least expect it (this doesn't mean she's a yawn 24/7). Today she bore her testimony during the testimony meeting at YC and when she spoke, I could hear myself saying the words she was saying. Her testimony strengthened mine, which I consider a very important thing. She also gave the closing prayer at the meeting, and her prayer was sincere and powerful (and full of excellent diction, I might add). She is a wonderful aunt to my Elizabeth.
3. I reiterate that
she is her own person.
While growing up, people compared her to me. People still do that, I suppose, out of sheer habit. As she was the next lady Jett in line, it was bound to happen. Although I don't know from experience, I can probably tell you that got old very quickly. Teachers accidentally called her "Mary" all the time! For awhile, I think she worked her very hardest to be anything but me.
Oh how different from earlier years when she wanted nothing to do but follow me around. I regret to say that I wasn't always kind to her--that's my own fault. I'm trying to make up for it now and I hope I'm doing a good job. I guess what I'm saying is that I am proud of her for being her own person and for doing things her way, even if the older sister in me sees a different way.
She helps me to...begin...to appreciate gladiator sandals; she tells me I should wear more makeup because it's fun; she calls me with Harry Potter questions on her mind; she confides in me her latest crushes; she vents to me about homework assignments. She tells me about her life and I am beyond happy to be a part of it.
In all of our history together, you can call us sisters, the BEST of sisters, because that is what we are.
