Noel......My Bell.

This is a picture of Larkin , Noel and me in the winter of my 8th grade year.  I remember this being taken....... I remember that this was one of the few times we really had a good winter, and missed school for several days.  When I wasn't sledding down Kings Mountain, I was watching Noel do her best to walk in the snow.  She really was a living doll for us most of the time.
 
I honestly wish I could upload from several VHS tapes to this post because we have some classic video footage of Noel from my high school years.....barking like a dog at my prom date and talking about her Birkenstocks rank highest on my list.

When she was a baby, Noel spent a lot of her time during the day with my dad since my mom was teaching.  He would take her to work with him, and as a result she began addressing him as Wally at a very early age.  She just did whatever we were doing, and we didn't think too much about her absorbing it because she was just a baby, right?  She enjoyed movies like "Steel Magnolias" and "Christmas Vacation" at an early age...... I remember well sitting in the living room as she ran through yelling "Hallelujah!  Holy Chit!"  Of course my friends and I cracked up, which only led to her continuing to entertainin us.  Another fine moment was sitting next to her in the minivan and hearing her say that she couldn't "fasten the damn seat belt".

Given our age difference, Noel and I didn't live under the same roof for many years.  We did share a room briefly when MK and I moved back to mom and dad's for a three month period when MK was 9 months old.  She had bunk beds at the time, and I lucked out to get the top bunk.  She was so sweet with MK.  The picture below was taken while Noel did homework before her dance lessons one afternoon while we were staying there.  

We also went on a mini-adventure to Memphis that fall.  Noel loved the Backstreet Boys, and I had offered to take her to Memphis to see them live.  I'm still not sure how mom and dad got along with MK for the many hours that I was gone........she was a bit difficult at that time........ but Noel and I had a blast.  We had floor seats, but they were toward the back.  We waited until Mandy Moore had finished her opening act, and quickly moved up so that we could have a better view of the band.  This worked until the original seat owners returned from the concession stand..... still, it was fun to take my little sister to what I think was her first major concert.

Who would have thought that the little comedian I lived with would grow up to be one of the most positive role models I know.  She started attending summer camp at Brookhill when she was in 4th or 5th grade, and continued to spend her summer there until just two years ago.  I noticed recently that she is "friends" on FB with one of MK's classmates.  I asked how it was that she knew this girl, and the answer didn't surprise me at all.  Noel has thousands of friends on FB.  The campers she worked with would seek her out online and continue to share her positive energy.  She is smart, creative, sensitive to those around her, loving and giving.  Beautiful inside and out.

Noel is also one of three members of the Gieringer Mensa club.  She's yet to produce our club jackets, but we often do get together and discuss our superior intelligence.  While others doubt the reliability of an online IQ test, Noel and I do not doubt it for a moment.