Boo Boo: A tribute to Rudy Lee

I’m big on writing about the people and influences who play a big role in my life and one of those influences is the biggest pain in the neck ever aka my older sister aka Rudy Lee Spencer-Scott. Today is her birthday and I figured I’d put my writing expertise to good use and pay nauseating tribute to her on her special day.

Rudy Lee was born on March 2, 1990 in Oakland, California. She was the first of three children born to Ruby Lee Spencer. Ruby’s nickname for Rudy was Boo Boo. Rudy was a hungry baby that loved McDonald’s and eating almost anything that was edible so food was definitely life for the kid.

When Rudy’s mother Ruby joined the US Navy in the early 90’s she met a man named Joseph Patterson Jr. with whom she fell in love with and married. Eventually he moved Ruby and Rudy to his hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina where they eventually got married and had a son together, Ruby’s second child, Joseph Patterson III aka moi aka me.

This is where my journey with Rudy began. It should be noted that on the day I was born Rudy told my mom to leave me at the hospital, tragic right? But then again you could say she was justified in her reasoning being that I almost gouged her eye out when I was two years old. Though she is perhaps the biggest stomach ache you will ever get, my big sister Rudy is probably the greatest person you will ever meet. Quirky, charismatic, wise cracking and so full of life. Many of my greatest memories are because of Rudy.

As illustrated in the picture above, Rudy loved taking pictures in which she shows every tooth in her mouth. Our mother and grandmother used to pick on her a lot for it. Rudy has always been a very musical soul who has influenced much of my own taste in music. When my mother bought her a radio when she was a little girl she would keep the radio playing all night long and being that my mother always made us share a room I had to endure endless nights of nonstop music. That’s not to say it was a bad thing. Rudy is genuinely the reason why I love Brandy Norwood and TLC. When I was six and she was nine she convinced me to dance with her in a community talent show and we won trophies and gift cards to McDonald’s, this is genuinely one of my favorite memories as a kid.

After our parents split and my mom gave birth to her third child, my youngest sister Kindal, life became a struggle for Rudy. She was forced to be the second mother to two kids and did everything in her power to take care of us the best she could. Many people see Rudy as a rough neck, but much of that side of her comes from the abuse she had to endure in a childhood of which a lot was taken from her. I thought life was hard for me growing up, but I wouldn’t have dared to trade places with Rudy because she had it the worst out of us all. In retrospect I really admire her for how strong she was through it all.

Rudy has always had a spirit of charisma that mirrored her mother’s. She was definitely the coolest and most popular out of all my mother’s children. I could never go anywhere without someone asking me “Joe where Rudy?” If she wasn’t with me, yes it was annoying and I even became known by the moniker “Rudy’s little brother”. Rudy was also a jack of many trades. In middle school she was both a cheerleader and a member of the girl’s football team.

In 2007 Rudy had her first child, Chase Sincere Spencer. My nephew Chase has much of not only his mother’s looks but witty personality.

In 2010 our mother died in a car accident and Rudy became the legal guardian of our little sister Kindal. As hard as it was losing our mother, Rudy, me and Kindal all found our smile again in a way that our mother would’ve loved and that was of course in part thanks to Rudy.

Rudy has done a lot with her life over the course of the past decade. She met Travis Scott, not the rapper, and got married and has a big family now.

In all this time I have watched Rudy grow in some amazing ways. She went into business for herself doing hair, nails, makeup and clothing. She even became a coach for a cheerleading squad. She also keeps my mother’s supportive and festive spirit in regard to her children. She always goes to their sports events and makes sure they all do great in school.

Through even her worst moments Rudy is still an amazing spirit. My life personally would not be as great as it is without her and even with us being the typical fight all the time siblings we are, I love Rudy Lee more than she could ever understand and I am extremely proud of the woman she has become.

~~Dedicated to my amazing older sister, Rudy Lee Spencer-Scott, Happy birthday Boo Boo.