Okay…so this isn’t my usual post…but I couldn’t resist…and it all started with this picture…

Which one is Sandra Bullock…and which one is my little sister?

Take a look at this picture on the left.  Tell me…which one is Sandra Bullock and which one is my sister, Kanista?  Separated at birth maybe?  I think resemblance is uncanny!  Several years ago when my kids were little and the movie “While You Were Sleeping” was first out, my kids thought Sandra Bullock was their Aunt Kanista!  I didn’t say she wasn’t…in fact, I rather encouraged this with them!  At one point, my youngest, Emily, would get excited when she’d find the movie on TV and come running to us and say, “let’s watch the movie with Aunt Kanista!”

It’s not just the similarities in they way they look.  I also see a lot of Sandra’s mannerisms in my little sister, especially in her early years and in particular in the movie “Love Potion Number 9” which is where the photo in this post was lifted from.  The picture of my sister Kanista (on the right) is probably from the same time period and turned up recently when she was in town.

Our family LOVES Sandra Bullock.  We eagerly await every movie she stars in and began collecting them all many years ago.  Interesting fact…many of the characters she plays in her movies are named “Lucy.”  So when we got our puppy 8 years ago, you guessed it…we named her Lucy after all those Sandra Bullock characters!

Another interesting fact…I used to work with Sandra Bullocks’ aunt in Birmingham.  Luddy Bullock Spender was the sweetest woman and somewhat of a matchmaker in our office.  She just wanted everyone to be happy.  She made the BEST bourbon balls at Christmas and would bring a huge platter to the office for everyone to enjoy.  She did this even after she had retired and we loved her for it.  When I graduated from college, she hosted a luncheon for me at her house on our lunch hour.  This was the sweetest thing!  Of course, this was WAY before cell phones and when everyone took pictures of everything (including me!) so I don’t have a photo of it but I do have a wonderful memory of this sweet woman and what she did for me.  She told me she was just so proud that I had worked full-time and finished my college education at the same time and wanted to do something special to recognize this effort.  See what I mean…the sweetest!

At my lingerie shower in 1985…Luddy is on the far right.

Luddy also helped host my lingerie shower before Eddie and I got married.  She was such a gem and always in the middle of event planning.  Honestly, none of us knew she was Sandra’s aunt until way after she had retired from work.  Sandra hadn’t hit it BIG yet in films.  I remember when several of us found out about her relationship to Sandra – there was an article in the paper about a high school reunion in Birmingham – and one of the quotes was about “the movie star’s aunt” – that would be Luddy.  I remember reading and thinking – HOLY COW!  A friend at work – remembering her love of matchmaking said later “yeah, thanks for setting me up with your niece, Luddy!”  We had a good laugh about that one!

Miss Luddy passed away several years ago but those of us who worked with her for all those years have fond memories of her and the unintentional funny things she would do.  She used to lose her car in the parking deck frequently.  We would see her looking and would roll down the window and help her find it as we were driving from floor and floor.  Recently, a friend and I were talking about Luddy and he said some so perfect… “she is sharing her recipes in heaven now and searching some celestial parking deck for her car…”

Luddy at one of our office Christmas luncheons. Here she is with another co-worker, Bettye.

So, all this to say that I feel like I have a bit of a connection with Sandra Bullock…from my look-a-like sister to her Aunt Luddy.  She is one of my favorite actresses and maybe one day I’ll get the opportunity to meet her and tell her how special her Aunt Luddy was to me.  Meanwhile…I have my sister Kanista who could very well be Sandra’s doppelgänger!