CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I Thank My Sisters

Anne and Gail at the East/West Alumni Game (best night ever!)

[After writing the last post blaming my sisters, I stumbled on this post that I had begun back in December and somehow never finished. Oops! If I'm going to blame them for my problems, I should also give them just a small dose of the thanks they deserve.]
------------------------------------
Just had a wonderful couple of days with Anne and Gail. It's caused me to reflect on the relationship that only exists between sisters. I'm not sure how I could have treasured so many memories with them and still managed to take them for granted, but somehow that is the nature of family where unconditional love is a given..

My mom always said that you could let your hair down around family... you could be tired and cranky... and they would love you, warts and all. And my sister do. They know me. I mean REALLY know me. They know that I can be loud, selfish, overbearing, that I can consume more chocolate than any human being should... and they still manage to make me feel adored. They even seem surprised if occasionally someone else doesn't adore me.

We share a history: of a converted duplex with a long tiled floor hallway, of Bremerton II ward, a velvet crumb cake and the bread drawer, of a "dance" made up to the Nutcracker Suite... and a thousand other references that only they would recognize. In a single conversation we can be reverent and irreverent, choke back a tear or two and laugh until... well, they know. We've cried through weddings and laughed at death. And yes, we share a twisted, sometimes dark sense of humor.

Because they are closer in age, they share even more of a history with each other: Of Mr. Vehrs, Mrs. Simcik (which they will know that I've spelled her name wrong), of ground beef getting kicked home from the grocery store (I believe you even if your daughters don't) and Young Adult Volleyball games. I know these stories, because I heard them 30+ years ago. I treasured them then and I do now. I listened carefully to those stories, because I wanted to be with them, I wanted to be like them.

I am now the tallest, but I have never ceased to look up to my sisters. And they have always deserved it.

I have been blessed in my life to have a pretty sure foundation. And my sisters are a huge part of that. They loaned me their faith, their shoes, their strength, and even a prized opal necklace for my 6th grade school picture. More than anything maybe, they "get me". I don't have to explain my jokes, or ever say those horrible words, "just kidding". I have called them in the middle of the night to share my joy, or from a telephone booth to share my sorrow. And they always picked up the phone. And always, they lift me up as well. They are my oldest friends and I refuse to think about a world without them in it. They have brought more to my life than I can begin to realize.

I thank my sisters.

0 comments: