S: Sisters
I have three sisters. I am the oldest of the four of us. There are only 16 months between me and my one sister. We shared a room from the day she was born til she moved to California, the day after her wedding. That would be almost 21 years.
We couldn't be more different.
I was quiet and shy, she was not. My side of the room was not very neat, her side was very neat.
I liked to read into the night. She wanted to sleep. We argued a lot about leaving the light on or turning the light off.
We didn't hang around with each other, much.
Her life took her in one direction, my life took me in another. With 3,000 miles separating us we no longer argued, much.
As the years went on, we found that our common ground was the common bond of a difficult childhood.
My sister moved back to NJ about 15 years ago. We have gained the love and respect for one another that comes with maturity and the experiences of life.
Since she is still working and I am not, our lives are not in sync. So we still don't hang around with each other much.
As I was thinking about writing this post about my sister, I remembered something that happened this past Christmas.
Our family just didn't feel in a holiday mood. I did put up a Christmas tree but decorated it without much enthusiasm. My sister,who usually decorates her house from top to bottom and decorates two trees, did very little decorating and put up no trees.
I gave my sister two gifts for Christmas. A shawl that I knitted for her and an ornament. We stopped over her house a couple of days before Christmas and I gave her the gifts. She was thrilled with the shawl.
Two days later, Ross and I had Christmas dinner with my sister and her husband. Sitting on a table in her living room was a little Christmas tree, with just one ornament hanging on it, the one I gave her.
And I realized that my sister and I are not that much different after all.
I have created a page for Anna's Diary. It can be found under the Tab titled Anna's Diary.
I have posted all of the entries to date there, starting with January 1, 1929.
Here is today's entry from Anna's Diary:
Sun. April 21, 1929
Made raviolis and brought down to grandma M's for dinner. Elsie brought chickens, Mary pastries. All had dinner together in celebration of completion of bank.
[I have found out that apparently Anna's family owned a bank]
To see more A-Z posts click here.
First, and I understand completely that this is not the point of the post whatsoever, but I have to say that ornament is flat-out adorable.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I am glad that you are finding your way in your relationship with your sister. I have a VERY complicated relationship with my sister who is closest in age to me (we are 18 months apart) and, for the past few years, I have really been struggling with decades-old issues and trying to figure out how (and sometimes even if) I should continue trying. I don't know how to quit, though.
Thanks for this post.
i don't have any sisters but i have several women friends who feel like what i imagine sisters to be ~ without the arguments. {smile}
ReplyDeletewonderful post, Lynda!
♥
dani
My sister and I were over five years apart and shared a room until she married.
ReplyDeleteWe got on pretty well, certainly no major tantrums. In later years, now our children have all grown and become independent, we still get on reasonable well - perhaps our differences are exacerbated by our husbands. Strange how marriage changes your outlook on life!
SueH I
refuse to go quietly!
Twitter - @Librarymaid
The common bond of a difficult background unites you. Long live sisters. Blog on!
ReplyDeletehttp://francene-wordstitcher.blogspot.com
Thanks for visiting. I stopped by your blog today and decided to be a regular.
ReplyDeleteYes, in-laws can certainly add different dimensions to relationships.
ReplyDeleteI have only one daughter. So she did what you do, she found sister friends. You’re right that same rivalry for attention doesn’t exist between friends like it does between sisters.
ReplyDeleteI thought that ornament was perfect, especially for a knitter like me. I did buy three, one for each of my sisters. But somehow I just never got around to visiting with the other two. Besides I wanted a knitted something or other to go along with the ornament. They will get theirs eventually.
ReplyDeleteSister relationships are complicated. Perhaps an honest to goodness heart to heart is in order for you and your sister.
My lone sister and I are very different as well. She is 8 years younger and , by the time she came along, I was already in the role of caretaker. I was also a product of Catholic schools but the 'rents sent her to public school. and, the 'rents were tired. She had far more freedom than I could ever have imagined. We were really rather distant until she became pregnant (sans marriage which was a big deal in my family) at the same time that I was pregnant with my fist child. The bond of motherhood has connected us ever since.
ReplyDelete