Daisy Heads

Today is my sister, Nurse Cori's, birthday. I call her Nurse Cori because as of July 30, 2012, she is, in fact, a nurse. But in my mind she has been a nurse for many birthdays before this one. It all began with Templeton, our pet rat. One very unfortunate day, Tempeton's cage got left on our front porch through the hours of gentle shade and morning light, perfect for letting rodents air, and into the baking afternoon sun.When Nurse Cori found him, he was panting out his last breaths. While I went into hysterics of grief at seeing our poor pet in pain, she took action. She bathed him in cool water and laid him gently onto our cold concrete floor in an effort to bring his body temperature back down. Although it was too late for dear Templeton, it was the beginning of Nurse Cori figuring out her calling. I have been proud to watch her pursue it through accelerated nursing school, and into a position at Baylor Hospital in Dallas.

Nurse Cori has also been taking her skills over land and sea. My sister has always had too much strength for her own good, and now with direction and skill behind her, that strength has turned into boldness. This fall she spent five weeks running clinics in Mexico, followed by a week in Jordan ministering to Syrian refugees. My sister does nothing half way. She doesn't even do things the whole way. She does things the Cori way which is much harder and requires more of herself than any of us could imagine. She will never be content with a comfortable life but will instead seek out the poor, needy, and lonely. She follows Christ with inspiring passion. I wish all of you could know her as I do.

So I would like to honor her today, her birthday, with some pictures and perhaps another story or two.

To start out, here's a picture of Nurse Cori and me in our home town of Fredericksburg, TX. I'm in green and Nurse Cori is in the cool yellow vesty thing.

We don't normally wear cowboy hats... in fact, I don't know that we have before or since.

Here is Nurse Cori along with Cousin Sarah and myself. This is how you celebrate Thanksgiving the right way.

Note the actual turkey feathers in our headbands. We were proud of those.

Nurse Cori was also, of course, very much present at my wedding. She may have lost the rings for the hour preceding the ceremony, but the important thing is I never knew about it until many weeks later.

While I'm on the note of sharing with you the more serious side of Cori, here is her being a true, stalwart nurse a few days after the birth of my sweet baby, Piper Joy.

It is a tradition somehow among our friends that everyone gets together on Christmas Eve for a White Elephant gift exchange. People get pretty creative. I remember my brother coming home with a goldfish one year. Nurse Cori loved her gift this particular year. She is sporting it in this picture. Can you find it? Here's a hint: it is pink!

I made this picture big so you can examine all the excellent spoils everyone returned home with. Note especially the fire coming out of my beloved Tom's lighter gun.

In final tribute to my sister, on this her 25th birthday, I would like to share with you a picture that fully encompasses who she is and who we are as sisters. Here's to you, Nurse Cori. May the Lord be with you always and may you know his joy and peace. Happy Birthday!