Sisters

Sisters are the best thing in the world!!! They are your playmates when you are young. Having a sister doubles your toys. Having a sister doubles your wardrobe.  They are your best friends growing up.  They are there for all the firsts.  The first time you walk, ride a bike, roller skate, the first date, the first dance, the first kiss, the first boyfriend,...  Sisters are with you when your family moves across the street, to another town or another state.  They are there through the school changes and graduations.  They are there through the divorces, marriages and births.

I know women who have lost their sisters.  What they wouldn't give for a moment with their beloved sister again. It doesn't matter if the loss the result of a gradual illness or a sudden accident.  They miss their sister.  A part of them is always missing.  The speak of her in hushed tones with moist eyes.  Even if they were not close to their sister they feel the loss deeply.

My sisters are fighting,... Something that occasionally has happened during my life.  We are very different women.  When you put all of us in a room you not only get the best of our parents but you get the worst too.  We have taken both the good and the bad; different traits and very different percentages.


We are the 20+ year married working mother, who gave everything to her career, marriage and children.   She is the one who was goal oriented but wanted it all.  She is the driven one who set her sights on the prize and never slowed down until she got it. The one who went back to school for more education and got her doctorate.  The one who strives to be our mothers favorite and struggles the most with envy. The perfection has a stronger hold of and in her drive to be perfect, lost herself.

We are the working mom, who balances her life and family with the help of our mother.  The one who still has one foot in the friendships of her youth.  The one who said she would never wear clothes from Walmart and still doesn't.  The one with the perfect body, nails and hair.  The one with the best car, newest clothes and best vacations.  The one with the physical issues and emotional losses in her past.

We are the military wife and mother.  The one who joined up for an education but found the structure and discipline she always wanted. The one who gave up her career for his.  The one who married the introvert.  The man who now turns his hearing aid off when the nieces and nephews enter the room.  The one who still wants life to be structured and predictable, so much that she shuts out the unpleasant and unacceptable.  The one who judges before she can be judged.  The takes before she can be taken.


We are the divorcee, who survived infidelity lost her confidence.  The one who remarried, has step children and a tendency to not take care of herself. She is the fat one, the one who needs to diet and exercise, the one who needs to get a hair cut or have her nails done.  She is the giver who gives of herself until there is nothing left for her to take for herself.   The one who runs away at the first indication that anyone is upset or angry.

We are the stay at home wife and mother.  The one with more kids than hands. The one who schedules weekly play date with the neighbors so that she has another adult to talk to for a few hours.  The one who shares stories of potty training and t-ball games, soccer teams and gymnastics classes.  The one who runs children from place to place with van full of groceries and kids in diapers that need changing.

We are the single sister striving to find her own way in the world.  The one who takes risks at work and in her life.  The one who runs a marathon but doesn't have the ability to keep relationships together.  The one who looks put together, strong and independent but works 80 hour weeks so she doesn't have to be at home alone.  The one who has acquaintances but no real friends.  The one we see once a year, twice if there is a wedding or funeral.

My sisters are fighting, like the Hatfields and McCoys. Opinions long held, shared with others behind backs and conversations that never should have happened. Jokes taken too far that left marks that turned into scars. Misunderstandings that lead to hard feelings.  Anger and resentment building up over decades not given away like the used baggage it was.  The one thinks this, the other that,... do you think I should have made that choice? Do you agree that I did that? Do you like my husband? Do you like my children?  Do you love them?  Do you like me? Do you love me? Do you accept me for who I am? Do you?

I am your sister,... nothing else matters,...