Sisters

When my youngest sister K was born, I was five years old. I remember cuddling next to my mother in the hospital visiting room. I was sobbing, wishing that she would leave that new baby in the hospital and come home with me. Meanwhile my sister L (who was 3 at the time) was beaming from ear to ear. She couldn't wait to bring home this new little baby sister.

Growing up my sisters and I definitely did our share of fighting. It was usually two against one and we would work as a team to make the one outsider feel horrible and cry. We fought over toys, the TV or what we should play next. Later in life we fought over clothes, the phone and who could use the family room. Despite all of the fighting, we really did love each other (deep down) and most of the time enjoyed being together.

My sisters and I would play together for hours. I would wake early, create our "Play Agenda" and we would go from game to game. We might start off playing Fisher Price Little People, then move to Store or Adoption Agency, then onto Bus Driver and then break for lunch and play Restaurant. Our days would go well until one of my sisters grew tired of the Agenda and wanted to do something else. Then we would argue and split off for awhile.

Over the years our relationships have grown much stronger. We call each other just to talk, rarely fight and act more like friends than siblings. These past few weeks have helped our relationships to grow even stronger. After Noni passed away, my sisters and I took a day to organize and clean her old apartment so that we could move everything out. We spent hours going through old photos, throwing out junk and putting all that we deemed valuable in one spot. Though we were so sad about the task at hand, we had a lot of fun. We reminisced, tried on Noni's jewelry (just like we use to do when we were little), laughed about photos we found and could not believe that Noni saved every item we ever made her!!

When we were ready for a break, we decided to head to Friendly's for lunch. This was a place where Noni use to take us as kids. As we perused the menu we thought about all of the old menu items we use to get (many of them are still there) and chatted about old memories. It was really nice to laugh during such a somber time. I will never forget that day!

Mom and Dad, thank you so much for having three of us! It may have taken time for us to get to know each other and actually "like" one another but it has been so worth the wait. I know that I have two friends who love me unconditionally and that we will always be there for one another. L and K....I love you very much!