Dear Rudy

Dear Rudy Lee,

During this season of giving thanks I wanted to write you a letter telling you how thankful I am for you.

So I wasn’t there when you were born because, well I didn’t exist, but you were there when I was born. The most interesting thing about our first encounter was you tried to convince our mother to leave me at the hospital the day I was born. This might seem cruel to most, but I give you a pass because I did almost cut your eye out when I was just two years old.

Me and you were roommates or cellmates as I like to joke for nearly 12 years. We absolutely couldn’t stand each other, but at the same time I just knew I had the coolest big sister growing up. Though our mother made you take me and our youngest sister Kindal everywhere you always made us feel comfortable and you always made sure I had fun.

I was embarrassed to admit it as a kid, but you inspired a lot of my personal taste growing up. You’re the reason why I love TLC, Brandy, Pro-wresting and the “A Nightmare On Elm Street” series. A lot of people thought I was so cool for knowing all this, but what they never realized was I got it from you, which is understandable. I mean you did kinda drift away from it all a little when you got older. You thought you were too cool for school.

Dear Rudy. Your whole life people have always thought you were the most charismatic, yet complicated person to be around. We both know you have a tendency to push all the wrong buttons with different people and amazingly enough you never miss your mark. But I’m a bit more merciful and accepting of you because I know you better than everyone else.

Everybody else doesn’t know the hardships and abuse you went through growing up, so that’s why you have to be patient with the outside world. They don’t know that you’ve been a mother and caretaker since you were just three years old. I know that comes with a lot of unpleasant memories, but you deserve to know how much I appreciate it.

Because of the hardships we had to endure with our mother you ended up becoming the second mother to me and Kindal. In doing so you saved our lives in a way of which we could never return the favor. Everyday you fed us, watched over us, made sure we got to school and made it home on time and made sure we were always safe.

This maternal instinct that you produced in taking care of your younger siblings crafted you into an amazing person who also became a caretaker to so many others to this day. You are a kind and caring person who has always opened your doors to people who needed a safe place and given aid to people even when they probably didn’t deserve it. This good person you are was cut from the same cloth as the caretaking little girl you were growing up.

So today you’re a wife and mother of a long time. In this present day chapter you’ve grown in a way that is not only appreciated, but admired. One thing I never tell you much is how much my closest friends and extended family admire you.

Of course everyone of them you’ve met really adore you, much to my annoyance. They’re always going on about how “Rudy such a sweetheart” “Rudy such a great mom” “Rudy such a great sister” and how much they love “Rudy”. Now of course I get annoyed and try to dispel that admiration by commenting on how much of a fascist dictator you were growing up and still are, but every piece of admiration they have for you is true more than you’ll ever understand.

To my big sister Rudy Lee, you are loved and appreciated during this season of thanksgiving.