Sister

Tomorrow is my sister’s birthday.  She lived a long decade on this earth   before I came along and rounded out our trio (our brother is the middle child).  I always felt like, because of our huge age difference, that she was some very exotic person who happened to live in our house.  She had friends she laughed at inside jokes with, wore makeup and stole our mother’s cigarettes.  She drove a VW bug, she had a job and moved away to college much too soon for me. 

I can remember calling her one night, upset.  I was 8 or so.  Both our parents worked overnight and our grandfather was staying with us but I was scared and lonely.  It was only around 11pm, but I thought it was the middle of the night and the fact that she answered the phone for me was so reassuring.  After she realized there was no actual emergency, she talked to me like it was dinner on Tuesday and not the “middle” of the night.  I knew, just then, that she would always be my sister and always be there for me.

Lots of things have separated us over the years.  Our age, our families, distance.  But she has always kept that unspoken promise to me.  She has been there.  And I love her dearly for it. 

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Our roots say we're sisters, our hearts say we're friends.  ~Author Unknown