written by Big Sister, Laura

I have been involved with BBBS since I was 19 years old. I am currently 31. I have been matched with my current little sister since July of 2001. Her name in Tanayia Smith and she is a great kid. I have always tried to tell Tanayia to dream big and never limit yourself in life. She said "why dream?" cause dreams don't usually come true. I wanted to try and show her the fault in her logic. I asked her what some of her dreams were. She wants to go to college, she wanted to have a million dollars, and she wanted to meet Hillary Duff her idol.

Several months later it was announced that Hillary Duff would be in concert in Moncton in January 2005. In October I called and got tickets to the show for her and I as her Christmas gift that year. I wanted to try and make one of her big dreams come true so I tracked down the management team of Hillary Duff and sent them a heart felt email. I told them that I was with BBBS, and that my little sister's dream was to meet Hillary Duff. I told them about how I wanted to change her mind about having dreams and let her know that if you dream big sometimes it does come true. I wanted to teach her that if you want something bad enough in life that you have to work hard to make it happen.

I waited for weeks for any response from Hillary Duff's management team but didn't hear anything. I called local radio stations asking if there was anything I could do to win backstage passes or buy them if need be. Nothing was working out for me and I was disheartened that maybe I was the one who was overly optimistic and maybe dreams didn't come true no matter how hard you work at it.

Weeks later I came to work and there was an email in my inbox. It was from BOO Management which was Hillary Duff's management company. My heart fell to my knees. I opened the email and they said that they loved my story and wanted to give Tanayia and I free backstage passes. I sat at my desk and cried. Not because we were going to meet Hillary Duff, but because I was going to teach her a huge life lesson and a little girl from Moncton was going to have one of her biggest dreams come true because of me. I told her Mom and her family and they were extrememly grateful and excited.

I wanted to surprise Tanayia with the tickets and the backstage passes. I gathered up a group of friends and family and we went to a local restaurant for her to open her Christmas gift from me. They all wanted to see her reaction to the news. When I saw the look on her face after opening the gift, I knew that I had truly made a diffence in her life. Not becasue of the concert, but because I taught her to dream big, and try to achieve big, because sometimes by hard work or by fluke, dreams do come true. Tanayia told all the waitresses in the restaurant about her Christmas gift and most had a tear in their eye when she told them. She told everyone at school, her friends, family, BBBS, etc..

BBBS told the local newspaper about the story. Tanayia was on the front page of the paper the day before the concert telling her story to the world and a follow up was in the paper the next day with a picture of Tanayia, her idol Hillary Duff and me, her big sister. She was a celebrity in our city for a week or so.

It has been almost 2 years since the concert and she often brings it up. She is older now and realizes that not only did she get to meet her idol, but someone in her life who was not related to her in any way, loved her enough to do whatever she could to make a diffence in her life. That is my story.... Since then Tanayia has stood in my wedding in October 2006, and continues to be a part of my life as my little sister. I think BBBS is amazing and I am so glad that I am a part of it.

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