This is Krystal. She is one of my dear sisters... she came into our family in a unique and unusual way. Here's how:I was ten years old. I had a cousin who was in a bad relationship who had a little baby girl in California. She needed some time to sort out things in her life and because my aunt and uncle were leaving the country, my parents stepped in to take care of the baby. At the time my mom had a daycare out of our home and so this seemed like a good temporary solution for us to take her home.
When that baby came into our home, she was 6 months old. She had big blue eyes, a beautiful smile and blond curly hair to top it off. She captured our hearts from the second she arrived. We were so in love with our little baby.
Then after a few months with us it was time for her to leave. I remember well the day I came home from school and she was gone. No goodbye. I remember sobbing on the chest of my dad. It was the first time in my life that my heart was broken. My dad whispered, "Don't worry, she'll be back."
I didn't understand all the grown up things going on around me at the time. Even now I wonder how the Lord orchestrated it all. But she did come back just a few days later. She was furtunate enough to have a biological mother that loved her. She loved her enough that she gave her to us. That gift is almost unimaginable.
I remember the day we went to the courthouse and the adoption was finalized. I short while later we were sealed as a family in the temple. I will never forget that day. All of my family gathered in white as we were sealed together. There are moments that occured that day... feelings I had that even to this day keep my testimony intact.
These events didn't happen by chance, that I know. Our Heavenly Father is aware of each of us. Where he places us is where we are to be and if I ever doubt that just I look at my sister to remember.
This is me and Krystal when I was a Senior in High School. She and I are 10 years apart in age, but in spirit we are kindred. There are so many things we share in common and one time we even bought a pink corduroy jacket on the same exact day. Pink corduroy. Things like that happen all the time.
Last month my sister was crowned as the Homecoming Queen. The first thought I had when I saw her was a giggle at how short she is. She claims to be five feet tall, but its up for debate. What she lacks in height she makes up for in every other area. My dad summed it up perfectly when he told her that although he was proud to see her crowned as the Queen, it was not because she was beautiful or popular- but because it showed him that she was kind to others and that she was a good person. And she is all that and more. And so time is a funny thing. I look at my baby, almost 6 months old and I remember the first day I saw Krystal. I look at the picture of us on the porch and it seems like just yesterday I was trying to help her control her unruly hair. And now I look at her as the Homecoming Queen and the decade between us seems like both and eternity and nothing. I am so proud of her, so grateful she is in my life. She's my shorty. She's my sister.
