An Ode to Kat(i)e Clawson Kunkel and Doug Bailey

I will refer to the beautiful Kate Clawson Kunkel as "Katie" for the rest of this post because to me she will always be "Katie". Her name has been changed to protect my fragile childhood memories.

Katie and her newly enfianced beloved, Doug...

If you're one of my 4 loyal blog readers, you've already seen a piture of Katie, since she is the second "little sister" of the wonderful Jeff Blumenkrantz. So needless to say, we all go way back. Like 10 years old way back.

I recently told Katie and her wonderful beau, now fiance, Doug, my favorite memory of her from childhood. We were talking on the phone one night (remember when you could talk on the phone for hours?! Now I avoid it like the plague...). I could never remember to whom I was referring, but I'm sure it was some boy who didn't really deserve any discussion, let alone hours worth. I must have been going off on a tangent, trying to decipher his actions/words/intent, and she finally rebuttled with "Just kiss him. Then you'll know. But no matter what you'll know."

Did I mention we were 14 and I'm pretty sure no boy would have touched me with a 10 foot pole? I was tall, bossy, and a huge brown-noser. Teachers loved me, insecure middle school boys not so much.

Needless to say I take the advice at the time, and sadly as I look back, I'm not sure I have ever used this advice! On our second date, I remember silently in my head BEGGING the DBF to kiss me. (Don't worry, he finally did--and not too soon there after, and there's been plenty of smooching since!).

But here's where Katie and I are so different. We're both smart, logical, calculated--but Katie is functionally fearless! I mean, the woman raised 3 beautiful daughters, has jumped out of a plane, and has an amazing chameleon-like ability to adapt and reinvent herself. Katie doesn't just get going when the going gets tough, when the going gets tough, she takes stock and then takes over!

What's hillarious to me is she claims this isn't exactly "fearless", and perhaps we're arguing over semantics. But I find so often I function in a state of constant fear, "what if it doesn't happen?" "What if I ruin everything?" "What if I fail?". Katie doesn't ever let that stop her. If anything she seems to use it to refocus, regroup and move further.

So not only am I thankful, I am in awe of Katie.

I have only met her fiance, Doug, once, and he seems like a very nice, kind and grounded man. But if he has the good sense to want to marry Katie, he must also be a genius.

A thousand thanks to you both!