Image via WikipediaMy sister is seven years younger than me.
Even before she left the womb we all knew something different was about to land in our household. I remember three things about my mother’s pregnancy. She threw up – a lot; she seemed to be pregnant forever; my brother prayed for a boy and I sent prays out for a girl. My sister ended up being a tomboy. Both my brother and I were early babies and my sister well she was late in arriving.
She has marched to her own drum ever since.
If there is a straight road to Damascus; she will not take it. She will endeavour to take every hill, valley, and mountain instead; insisting that the rest of us tag along with her. Trust me. It has not been easy. My sister has tested and stretched ever emotional component of my entire being.
As a kid I shared a room with her. It was not uncommon to wake up in the middle of the night listening to her laughing in her sleep. I was joyfully jealous of that; I often wondered where on earth she was hanging out in her dreams as it had to be a pretty happening place. The other thing I often woke up to was her puking. Until she got her tonsils yanked she was a sick little girl.
One night she was violently ill for other reasons. And, I mean violently. My brother and I decided it would be fun to tell her if you chewed on wheat it would turn to gum and you wouldn’t have to go to the store to buy any. She did. What we didn’t know is that she was swallowing it. Fields of gold came rushing out later that night - for hours. Gawd. Thank goodness the whole thing didn’t explode in her belly. That could have been dangerously disastrous.
My sister is far more spontaneous and radical than me. She doesn’t always think things through and just does it. I can spend too much time making decisions, analyzing every possible outcome, and someone else ususally has to give me a kick to get going.
We are both, however, guilty of stewing. If there was an award for the more successful stewer she and I would be in serious competition for the top prize.
What my sister has accomplished and quite successfully is her ability for all of us to examine who we are; pushing almost to the extent of near insanity. Why? Because she can. She is unconventional that way and yet out of all us she is the one more dedicated to traditions.
One of her greatest accomplishments that none of us will ever hold a candle to is her two children. They are dynamos and the world is a far better place with them in it.
The role of siblings in our lives is a complex story. Each of us comes from the same place, inheriting the same genetic makeup and a similar social setting in which we are raised and yet our reaction to those very same circumstances can be as different as night and day and as similar as two peas in a pod. It is a continual curiosity me as to how that happens.
What I do know is that I am stronger, wiser, and better person with whiter hair because of my sister. For that I am eternally grateful.
Siblings. What gifts have they brought you? ThInQ About It.
possibilities... think... create... imagine... create... express.
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