Just Tigger...

In my mind I have a list of people I most admire in the world. This list includes my mom, my friend Kat, Oprah, and my mother-in-law. ALso in that list is my friend, Sandi. Or Tigger as I know her. I don't think Tigger even knows that she is on that list. I don't think I have ever mentioned it to her. Tigger is not famous, or even infamous (unless you believe everything you read about her lol and most of it I Made up. lol). She is JUST TIGGER!!! I have never met her in real life, but I have known her for years. We met online at sb.com. Sooo... why does someone who is not famous and I have never met get to become one of the people I admire? The answer is simple.

One of the things that first drew me to Tigger was her funny posts on the message board at sb.com. A place where people talk about scrapbooking and much more. Tigger's posts could make me laugh and brighten up a cloudy day then, and even more so now. I often find myself laughing out loud at something she has written. Mostly she laughs at herself. SHe is not ashamed or embarrassed to tell us of things in her personal life that are funny or strange, and then laugh about them with us. She will join in the teasing, but she does so kindly and with love.

I admire Tigger for her relationship with her husband. I love how she never really "bashes" him for things he does wrong. She may complain, but she is always quick to come to his defense. SHe may not like some of the things that he does, but she knows that what it takes to make her marriage work.

I admire Tigger for her relationship with other people. She is caring and kind to others. She offers advice, hugs, or even good thoughts. Her teasing is done with kindness and love, and she is quick to apologize if she thinks she has crossed a line that offended someone.

I admire Tigger's talent at scrapbooking. She is truly one of the most talented scrappers I know. I think her work is much better than most I have seen in scrap magazines. (And I am not just blowing sparkles up her skirt either.) I have tried to "lift" one of pages, but I can't make them turn out like hers. Where hers are beautiful tributes to the people in her life, mine are more like a jumble of glue and paper with a photo stuck on top. But that's okay.. her scrapbook pages are beautiful to look at, and I am not jealous at all.

The thing I admire most about Tigger is her outlook on life. She has faced things that have made weaker people give up hope. She is a strong person and I admire that in a person. Yes, she is freakishly phobia challenged: certain types of pasta, sock monkeys, dolls with eyes that open/close, making left hand turns, cereal killers to name a few. (I won't go into having every illness that she reads/hears about.. lol) SHe has good qualities to balance out the strange ones: she loves animals. Especially dogs, although I do not understand the smelling of puppy feet, I will trust her that they smell good. SHe loves her friends and family. She loves to laugh.

I have not mentioned her beauty. No, Tigger is not a hideously ugly person. In fact, just the opposite. She is quite beautiful. Every photo that I have ever seen of Tigger, she is smiling. When you look at the photos, look at her eyes. She smiles with her eyes. A genuinely happy person has that gleam in thier eye. Every photo she has that gleam in her eye.. (well not the ones of her butt, but that's another story).

Now, I have typed all of this, and I know that when she reads this, she is going to ask herself "SELF where is the zing? WHen does MIssy make the crack about my age?" Well.. now.. I can't disappoint a friend now can I? Tigger is older than I am, but only by 11 years. In fact she made 50 this year. But to know TIgger, is to know that she does not seem to be 50. In my mind, Tigger is ageless. Yes I tease her about being "tigger old". But in my mind, Tigger Old is just a way of saying ageless. I mean, she goes down waterslides while drinking beer, she listens to a wide range of music that most people her age wouldn't never appreciate, she dances around her house with more energy than I have on a good day, and she laughs.

Laughing, scrapping, loving, caring, kind, talented, smiling.. she is JUST TIGGER. My Friend. (not my fifty year old friend.) I admire her! I love her as I do my sisters. Not many people get that distinction.

(NOW TIgger, NO CRYING!!)