The Gift of Sisters

You can kid the world. But not your sister. Charlotte Gray)

Did you ever read a quote that carried any more truth? Sisters know us and love us in a way no one else can.

One of the reasons I’m thinking about sisters today is because it’s my middle sister’s birthday.  So I hunted up a picture of my sisters and me. The birthday girl is the one making the funny face and I’m the one not looking at the camera. My older sister is smiling at the camera the way you’re supposed to.

The birthday sister isn’t quite two years older than I am. As kids, we were constant playmates. We did chores together. We made mudpies together. We played who knows how many board games and card games together. We surely had some fusses too, but I’ve not held onto the memory of those. I just remember the good things such as finding a big rock over in the field that looked like a little sofa and playing house there. Or going on adventures in the woods. Or making paperdolls by cutting out models in catalogs and gluing them to cardboard. And so much more.

I’ve written plenty of posts here that mention sisters. One of the reasons for that is my book, Angel Sister. The inspiration for that story was my mom and her sisters and the stories they used to tell about their growing up years. In Angel Sister, I wanted to highlight that special bond sisters have for one another.
In this post with segments pulled from a other posts I’ve written in the past, I’m sharing about sisters again. Now I have grandchildren who have that sister bond. Three sisters in each set of grandchildren.

“A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.” (Marion C. Garretty)

When you’re kids living in the same house, you’re sometimes ready to choke one another, but the sister bond changes as the years go by. The older sister who tormented you with her superior ways is now the sister you can count on when you need help. The younger sister who spilled your favorite perfume and was such a pest is now the sister who will hold your hand through the worst doctor’s visits or walk with you through the hard times of caretaking your parents. And the middle sister – she’s the glue who holds the sisters together. She’s the one with the ready ear and the shoulder to cry on when things aren’t going well. It’s that middle sister who is having a birthday today.

In Angel Sister, Kate is a middle sister who feels she has to be the responsible one – the one who wants to make sure things turn out right for her family.

Our sisters do know us. They shared the same experiences growing up. They know about that first cake you made that even the dogs wouldn’t eat. They know about the snake that wanted to share the inner tube you were floating in at the pond. They remember how much you loved your first dog. They know about the time you got lost in the snowstorm in the city and still talk about how somehow that turned out okay. They were there at the beginning when you first took up a pen to write a story. They laughed at you and drove you crazy. They knew exactly who you were and they kept loving you even when they didn’t like you so much.

“You keep your past by having sisters. As you get older, they’re the only ones who don’t get bored if you talk about your memories.” (Deborah Moggach)

Thank goodness, my mother and her sisters never got tired of talking about their “good old days.” And that I never got tired of listening to them. Without those oft repeated stories, I might never have written Angel Sister. My sisters and I don’t do the “remember when” as much as Mom and her sisters did. But maybe we should – where our kids can hear. Our pasts are a gift of experiences and love that we should pass along to the younger generation. And then eventually they will do the same. That’s what families do.

“Sister. She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she’s the reason you wish you were an only child.” —Barbara Alpert

I promised a Christmas giveaway here for you all who read my blog posts. So here you go. I’ll pick three winners who can choose one of my books as a prize. Maybe if you win, you will want to read about sisters. All my Rosey Corner books highlight the sisters relationships.

The Refuge, my most recent Shaker book, has a story about sisters of the heart. Tansy in Along a Storied Trail was a sister. Jocie in the Heart of Hollyhill books was a sister.

To enter, just make a comment on this post or one of the posts in the next couple of weeks. I’ll pick the winners by a random drawing. The deadline to enter is midnight EST December 30th. Each time you comment on a new post before that deadline, you get another entry. No purchase or any kind of sign up is required. Just a comment on a blog post. Tonight you can just answer my question about sisters or sister friends.

What’s the best thing about having a sister or a friend who is like a sister?