A Big Fan

When it comes to relationships, it is a common Biblical reference that "a chord of three strands is not easily broken".  When it comes to the relationships in my life, I’d repel down the side of a skyscraper with those strands.  (I recently watched the Amazing Race finale and now really, really want to repel off of a building…)  I have the kind of family that is always present, always active, and always my biggest supporters.  Growing up, I had a fan club at every basketball game, every graduation, every birthday, every recital (I admittedly had very few of those – I missed the musical gene), every single milestone.

Me and Mom - Mother's Day 2012.  She rivals my dad for title of 'Emily’s Biggest Fan'. 

While I still have that overwhelming support for everything that I choose to do, I no longer really have very many activities that they can actually attend. I mean, my clients might think it’s weird if I have a group of people sitting outside of the conference room waiting for my presentation to finish. But there are so many children in my life that I love the chance to be a big fan for someone else.

Fans change things.  Homemade t-shirts and cheering a little too loudly can turn shy smiles and hiding behind daddy’s leg into lap sitting and a new best friend.

She is my hero.  As the only girl on her team, she rocked a red helmet, pink undershirt, and a pink Barbie bat. And she hit that t-ball on her first try every time.  I’m in love.

This little guy is a bit older than his sister, so he acted embarrassed when he saw my shirt and heard our yelling.  But when he was preparing to hit and on base he kept checking out of the corner of his eye to make sure that we were still watching and still cheering.  We were.

As a thank you, he later taught my sister, Allison, and I to dance. Well, he tried to teach us.  This guy is seriously one of the best dancers I have ever known.  He has the beat in his soul.  Pretty sure he doesn’t get that from our side of the family!

And when your biggest fans see your homerun? You’ll remember it and talk about it for days.

An Awesome Home Run Hitter

And who wants to graduate from preschool without an audience? I promise that this guy had the biggest group of fans in the building.

This weekend we celebrated my nephew’s third birthday.  He knows that I love him because I tell him all the time.  And he knows that he loves me, too, because I tell him all the time.  “Aunt Em loves you.  You love Aunt Em.  Aunt Em thinks you are incredible.  Aunt Em knows you are special.  Aunt Em is pretty.”  Call it encouragement.  Call it confidence building.  Call it brainwashing.  Either way, I love him and he knows it!

 Three Years Old!

 My adorable birthday guy!

 This little guy made me an aunt for the first time. He will always have my heart.

My sweet sis.

And when you grow up, you realize what it means for your friends to be like family to you.  Ever had one of those moments where out of the blue you start rolling in phone calls and texts and emails and visits from all of your best friends at once? Recently all three of my best girlfriends from college called/texted me on the same day.

One to check on my sprained, broken arm which is now way better than before.

One to facetime with me so that I could meet her sweet baby girl all the way in Dallas, Texas.

I love her already... and her hair!

And one to talk about a huge milestone. Remember that wedding that I went to in Hawaii a few months ago?  A guy named Rhein Gipson married one of my best friends. He is an Aussie golfer on a mini tour in America.  And last weekend he went out for a round of golf with his buddies and came home with the lowest score ever recorded in the history of the game – a 55, 16 under par.  I guess that literally makes him the best golfer in history of the world. Well, he is in my book! Congratulations, Rhein!

So whether it is a tball game, a 3^rd birthday, a preschool graduation, a piano recital, a new baby, or a professional achievement, go be someone’s biggest fan!

Special thanks to Melissa Lester for mentioning me in her recent blog post about the Ladies Day that she did at my mom’s church!

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