12: My Sister – Kim Adams
On the surface my sister Kim and I seem different in a lot of ways. Some say we don’t even look related. But I think you only have to be around us for about five minutes before you can tell we are sisters, mannerisms, personalities, tendencies, likes and dislikes, etc. So different yet so alike. Growing up, I cannot recall specifically thinking to myself “I wanna be like Kimâ€. However, I am certain I was a little too self-absorbed and a little too competitive with her to ever actually admit anything I admired her even to myself. But as an adult looking back, the evidence is undisputable. First of all, I always borrowed her clothes (without ever asking, of course). I always liked the things she liked and wanted them for myself.
When Kim played soccer, I played soccer. When she played softball, I played softball. In high school volleyball was her main sport. She played year round, even while playing tennis in the Spring. I did the exact same thing. One year our gym teacher talked Kim into weight lifting competitively. I did the same. In college, she went into the business school. Just like I did. And you would be amazed at the similarities in our husbands. They are so alike in so many ways.
In college, I used to say I didn’t care what career I had as long as I was able to travel. As a sophomore I interviewed at Coors for a marketing position. The people who interviewed me raved about how great I would be and then they gave the job to somebody else. I was crushed. When Kim found out, she got me an interview at the company where she worked. I was hired as a manager’s office assistant to file papers. Shortly afterward, my manager was fired. The company was growing so fast they trained me in their software and threw me on to one of their product teams. This was the beginning of my software career. 15 years so far.
Within a year I was travelling to customer sites with the team. Within two years I was sent to Italy to work for Telecom Italia and for the next couple years I travelled all over Europe. Aside from helping to fulfill my dream of travelling, much of the good fortune I have in life today is a direct result of Kim thinking to get me that job where she worked after I had just been turned away.
Kim is an amazing person. She and her husband Doug are raising two of the most intelligent and well-behaved young boys you can imagine. And when you see her with them, it is no surprise. She always shows the utmost patience, compassion, and love. She talks with them, listens to them, and reasons with them as individuals rather than as extensions of herself. She is completely open and honest with them all the time, even when honesty becomes uncomfortable. Those boys are always a joy to be around.
On top of raising a family and holding a full time job as a software engineer, Kim has been taking classes at Denver University and is getting close to receiving a Graduate Certificate. And even with both work and school, she still goes to all of the kid’s games and school functions and finds time to see her friends regularly. In this way she reminds me so much of our mother. And yet when I talk to her on the phone she manages to sit and chat without sounding in a hurry to do other things. How does she do that?
With all that, Kim also decided to start a book club. What a great idea! Especially for someone who goes through books at the same rate other people go through TV shows. Yesterday she read the back cover of the next book they are going to read called Little Bee.
Hey, I want to read that book too! I think I will go to the library today…
By the way, Kim was also the one that introduced me to CrossFit.