Little and Big

Last Friday I went to a long overdue dinner with one of my dearest girlfriends. She was the first person I met in Austin and we’ve been friends ever since. Her name is Trinidad, and we all call her Trini for short. She’s cute as can be, extremely hard working and has the strongest endurance of any female I know.

She has a gorgeous and talented daughter with the coolest name, Jennefer. Trini named Jennefer after me (which was an honor itself) and we’ve always referred to me as ‘Big Jennefer’ and her, ‘Little Jennefer’.

As we were eating our dinners, Trini’s cell phone rang and it was little Jennefer. Little Jennefer asked her mom what she was doing and her mom replied, “I’m eating dinner with Big Jennefer at Trudy’s.” Little Jen on the other end of the phone said, “Oh Mom, can I come too since Big Jennefer’s there?!”

I wonder when she'll quit calling me Big Jennefer or if that has some other implication that I need to lose a few pounds. Anyway...let's continue.

Trini said, “Jennefer, you can’t leave your friend’s birthday party. You can go with us another time.” Trini said Jen was just silent.

Little Jen has so much spirit every time we get to see each other. I don’t spend nearly the time I should with little Jen, so she really gets excited when the opportunity is there. It’s difficult for us to go out on a regular basis since her mom works all the time and my schedule is usually whacked – those that know me know what I mean.

I wanted to write a little bit about little Jen, so you can just realize how wonderful she is and the person she has grown up to be (now 13 years old).

The top ten best experiences I’ve had with little Jennefer:

1. The day she was born – beautiful, healthy girl with a head full of dark hair. Precious.
2. The first time she said, “You are Big Jenfer and I am little Jenfer.”
3. Watching Jennefer play soccer for the first time. O my – that girl’s got talent. She can control that soccer ball like there’s an invisible string attached to it!
4. Jennefer’s black and white photo shoot at the Botanical Gardens. She’s a true gem to take photos of – a natural.
5. The day her mom ask me to be Jennefer’s Godmother.
6. The first time she invited me to her church.
7. Her helping me at Town Lake Animal Center. I was a volunteer on the photo team and I needed help one Saturday with the photos. She was a great photo partner – thanks Jen!
8. The day she starting wearing “cute” girly clothes – she’s always wore tomboy clothes (heh, I was the same way).
9. The day she helped me pick out my first Christmas Tree in Austin and helped decorate it.
10. The day she asked me to help plan her Quinceanera (Sweet 15). I’m looking forward to being a part of this.

It’s been amazing to see her grow up over the years and now she’s a teenager! I’m wondering if she’ll go through the rebellious teenager years – I don’t think she will. I think she’ll excel more and more everyday. It’s funny – every time I see her, she’s always got a new story that fascinates me. I love to listen to her and ask her opinion on her decisions. If I had a daughter, I’d definitely want a clone of her.

I’m proud of little Jen. *Big hug*

Note: I’m always making quirky things – the above image is an animated version of little Jennefer. It's a close resemblance of what she looks like! See, told ya she's a doll.