From my Mom, sister Holly and sister Kate

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY HEIDI

(from Holly)
1- You were such a sweet baby and little girl and your blond corkscrew hair was always having a party!
2- I loved it when you had to leave Baltimore…so…you went sailing in the Caribbean J
3- I loved it when you were the medical person aboard and traveled around the world!
4- You’re great about sharing your friends—the Kestners wouldn’t be the same without the McInerneys.
5- You have the best hug! And a great giggle too!
6- Whenever I need to move 1,000 miles or more…I know you’ll be up for another road trip!
7- Whatever is up with the moon, I know you’ll be looking at it too.
8- I loved Kelly and Allis, too, you gave them the best home in the world!
9- I love your waffle breakfasts!
10- I love living under the same roof as you J
11- Your ‘big book’ is full - with the things you enjoy! Lots of color, rocks, triangles, earrings, baskets, puppies and kittens, knitting and crocheting, plants and flowers….
12- You have an awesome career. I’m so very proud of you!
13- “Holly, just go talk to her.” Thank you for Doug, Ashley, Hadley and Will C.
14- You didn’t give up on true-love and you married your Knight barefooted!
15- You’re an outstanding wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend. The world is a better place because of all you are and all you do.
16- You are the most ‘Kestner’ of us all…You were Dad’s angel and now he is yours.

(from Mom)
17- You are so patient when helping us learn to use the computer.
18- You’ve been cutting my hair for decades – and doing it so well.
19- You took your mouse, Green Grape, up to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
20- You can usually identify my ‘mystery’ items.
21- Without a blink you got in the foreign cars and drove off on the left side of the road – even shifting gears with your right hand.
22- You are always ready to house and nurse convalescing family and friends.
23- I loved our “how about” secret from your friends.
24- You’ve kept in close touch with friends from all periods of your life.
25- I finally have a daughter who enjoys all kinds of hand work as much as I do.
26- You stuck to the task until you finally earned your PA-C.
27- You bake the best apple cakes and pecan pies in the whole wide world.
28- Al insisted that you be given a ‘happy name’. And you’ve lived up to our family choice.
29- Mike loved to let you ride in his ‘way-back’ in his VW bug when he picked you up from daycare.
30- You’ve always managed your money well and have even helped your friends with theirs.
31- I love to hear you laugh and giggle. I’d recognize those sounds anywhere.
32- We’ve loved having you as the family travel agent since you were 14.
33- You always brought such joy to your Daddy – and to all the other family members as well.
34- It was fun to be able to speak with you in Arp.

(from Kate)
35- I remember how proud and excited I was to bicycle all over the neighborhood to tell everyone that I knew that I had a new baby sister.
36- I remember singing that baby sister to sleep for so long that my voice was gone. Then laying her gently in her crib; only to see her blue eyes POP open.
37- I remember teaching her to walk down the hall, urged on by a dill pickle. And then missing her little ‘bottom-scoot’ once she learned to walk.
38- I remember playing “catch the baby” with her among Michael, Holly and myself.
39- I remember teaching her to do the twist to Chubby Checker; and then watching her twist out of her soggy diaper.
40- I remember the sheer terror of dropping her on the wood floor and thinking that I had killed her. And the relief when she grabbed onto to me like a baby monkey and howled.
41- I remember walking all over the neighborhood with her in the stroller; my friend Diane and her little nephew in another stroller; and marveling that our route took us by the homes of all the cute boys.
41- I remember registering the now 5 year old sister for Kindergarten and making the registrar wonder if I was a very young mother, or just a very old sister.
42- I remember being home alone with the now 10 year old baby sister and wondering how I was going to protect her from the greatest loss either of us had ever known, or would know for 32 more years.
43- I remember deciding not to let the now teenage baby sister grow up without my “bad influence”; and then being delighted to see that she was growing up to be a lot like me after all.
44- I remember taking her up to Jake Lake to have the time of her life; and forming the bond that holds us all there to this day.
45- I remember being so proud of all her accomplishments in handwork, woodwork, baking, sewing and so much more that always escaped me.
46- I remember being riveted by her descriptions of life in the OR and so proud of her medical knowledge. I remember deciding to grow up to be just like her. And I remember her answering in the affirmative when I asked if she thought I could do it, too.
47- I remember her assistance in helping me through classes, rotations, and her learning to tie left-handed; so that she could teach me that too.
48- I remember realizing that the roles were reversing and that I was coming to depend on her for help with the computer, travel arrangements, work assignments, and a gazillion other details of living.
49- I remember the pride and joy I felt being in her wedding party. What a lovely day!
50- And now that my baby sister is turning 50; I can’t seem to remember anything very important, fun, sad or hilarious in which she was not a central character.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY SISTER, I LOVE YOU A LOT !!!


(I could not get through these without shedding a tear or two. Thank you to the 3 very influential women in my life. I am truely blessed in so many ways.)