Julia's Tribute to Aunt Kelly

Julia is in a speech class this semester and has a 99% in the class (I don't know where she is missing the 1%...I guess the teacher doesn't want her students to be over confident in public speaking!) She has a weekly speech to give.

This week the assignment was to pay tribute to someone. I thought this was very sweet...

A. I’m really proud to be the niece of a woman that has more shoes than a department store,

more talents than Barbie (Editor's side note: you know, all of those Barbie Dolls...she's a doctor, nurse, teacher, Olympic ice skater, etc), and can also be found under the hood of her own car.

B. Today, I am here to pay tribute to my Aunt, Kelly A. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know Kelly, but I got to spend a lot of time with her and my Uncle Mike this past summer and discovered how amazing both of them are.

(Photos taken by Kelly...with the use of a tripod...yes she is amazing)

C. Kelly is my mother’s younger sister, and has a twin named Shannon.

She’s very talented with hair, and currently works at B. L. My Aunt also loves to document her life through beautiful photography.



D. A few of the reasons that I admire Kelly is because she is exceptionally cheerful and positive, selfless, compassionate, persistent, and talented in many ways.

II.

A. One of her most admirable traits is her selflessness. Kelly is always willing to give of herself before she gives to herself.

1. For example, Kelly and Mike were selfless enough to allow me to stay at their place for a couple of weeks over the summer and look after me. Hopefully I wasn’t that much of a burden, but it was still really nice of them to give of their time and space for their niece.

2. Kelly also had to undergo back surgery even though she is still really young.

This made it a lot harder for her to cut hair for a while, but she was still willing to cut people’s hair when they really needed it. Even prior to the surgery, my Aunt endured a lot of pain while cutting hair. Despite the pain, she often dedicated her time and talents to helping out many young girls in my church youth group by cutting their hair for free without any form of compensation. Her willingness to provide a service for people she hardly knows with no self gratification clearly shows her pure selflessness.

2. There was also one time when my uncle Mike gave my aunt some money to help with her expenses. But she saw my grandpa Price in need, and offered her own money to help him instead of using it for herself.

(Editor's side note: There is more to the story...just not enough time in a 3 minute speech to hit everything. My parents were in the process of a HUGE move from KS to UT. Kelly was there to help. Kelly knew that the move would be a huge expense and an even larger emotional change for my parents. Mike gave Kelly twenty dollars to help cover her expenses. Kelly gave the money to my dad to help cover the moving expenses ie. to help cover one of the 4 trailers used to move my dad's workshop to UT... two-thirds of one trailer was used for my mom's stuff. My dad was touched by her love and generosity. He still has that twenty dollar bill...and the mascara stains on his white tie from her wedding...)


C. Aside from her demonstrated patience and positive attitude, Kelly also is a great example to me of how to be compassionate.

1. She demonstrates this in many ways, but one of my favorite examples is between her and my uncle Mike’s sister, Sandra.

a. A while back, Sandra was in a tragic sledding accident that left her handicapped and unable to do many things for herself. She has to get from place to place in a wheelchair, and can’t use her hands very effectively.

b. Sandra often requires somebody else to do things that she cannot do herself, and when she needs something, Kelly makes sure that Sandra knows that she’s there for her. Kelly gives a lot of her time towards Sandra, demonstrating her kindness and empathy.

(Editor's side note: Kelly was at Sandra's side days on end during the difficult time after the sledding on Christmas Eve. Kelly will answer calls in the middle of the night to go over to help Sandra with simple tasks that Sandra cannot do on her own...they live 6-8 minutes away).


2. Kelly is also always giving of her time to other people who may need it. She is a very talented hair stylist, and her hair cutting services are highly desired. One of her senior citizen clients, named Melba, recently told Kelly that she was unable to leave her home (Housebound). Since Kelly is so generous, she drives to Melba’s house to style her hair every week. Since Melba can’t get out to visit other people, not only does she really appreciate the marvelous hair style, but is also extremely grateful for the social time that Kelly spends with her every week.

III.

A. All in all, my Aunt Kelly is a wonderful example to me, and like my big sister that I never had. She demonstrates to me how important it is to be compassionate, selfless, persistent, and to be optimistic.

B. Without Kelly Anderson, I wouldn’t be as optimistic about things and I would definitely not be the same person that I am today.

C. And that’s why I’m here to pay tribute to my Aunt Kelly.