Star of the Week!

Welcome to Gold Star Friday! Time to announce our Star of the Week!

Are you new to Gold Star Revolution and wondering what the Star of the Week award is all about? Click here for more details!

Future Stars of the Week will be chosen from reader nominations! But since we are at the beginning of this project, I will be the one nominating our Friday Star of the Week until the time when nominations from readers start to roll in. Please send me your nominations, and please see the end of this post for more details on how to do that!

One of my favorite paintings of all time is the one pictured below by Paul Klee, which depicts two siblings. I love the earth-tone colors that make the siblings feel grounded and connected. I love that Klee connects the siblings in a jumbled embrace that makes them almost appear as if they were one person. And I especially love that only one heart is visible, as if the siblings are sharing it.

As I'm sure you have been able to guess from this intro, the person I would like to acknowledge as this week's star is someone who is very dear to my heart, my sister Karen.

Although we don't live near each other, my sister is especially important to me because she is the only member of my immediate family that I have left. Our parents and our little brother died many years ago, with the loss of our father being the most recent back in 2007. This is one of the last family pictures I have with all five of us together, which was taken at my college graduation:

The biggest reason why I want to give this award to my sister is because I want her to know that someone sees and appreciates all of the things that she does for her family.

Karen has a lot of demands on her time, as most mothers do these days. She manages to juggle a full-time career, parenting two daughters, and running a household. She cooks, she cleans, she does laundry, she drives my nieces to all sorts of practices and activities. She is doing an amazing job of raising two very sweet, kind, loving children. I absolutely love this post-softball tournament picture of the three of them that my sister just sent me:

I know that it is a thankless job most days. But it is now time for her to get just a little bit of the recognition that she deserves! All you moms out there deserve a gold star for your efforts!

I also love my sister because she is absolutely as silly and goofy as I am. I consider this to be one of the best traits that we clearly got from our dad. She has a mind like a steel trap when it comes to remembering anything from our childhood.

She has a beautifully manicured yard with a gorgeous array of flowers, and she takes care of all of it herself. My parents would be very proud as they spent a lot of time landscaping. She is also an amazing cook – I can't hold a candle to her. I would gladly sit down at her table for dinner any day! Again, my mother would be very proud!

My sister and I have affectionately called each other "Kid" for as long as I can remember. Just thinking about this nickname makes me smile, both inside and out.

Tomorrow just happens to be my sister's birthday, so I thought it would be especially fitting to give her this award today. With much joy, I proudly present the Gold Star of the Week award to my baby sister. Congratulations Kid! I love you!!!

And, finally, it's time for the Gold Star photo of the week. This picture was taken back in 2014 at a birthday dinner for my sister. It is one of my favorite pictures of us as adults:

Would you like to nominate yourself or someone you care about to be our next Star of the Week? To read the rules about the nomination process and get more information about the free gift that winners will receive, please click here. Then submit the Nomination Form!

Please join me in wishing Karen a happy birthday and congratulating her as our Star of the Week!