There is no Better Friend than a Sister

Taken Summer,  2008

Today just happens to be my sister's birthday. I won't say how old she is but I will mention that she is only 2 years and 5 months older than me.

Living on a farm, outside of a small town, we kept each other entertained. A rousing game of "hot dog" where one of us would lay between one red bean bag and one yellow bean bag while the other sat on top is a game I remember fondly.

Another favorite was when I was her rag doll– I think that was the game. We would stand back to back and hook our arms together and then walk around. I would go wherever she walked. I can still hear us giggling.

Being the younger sister, I, of course, did my part to irritate her. I desperately wanted to be her twin sister. Our mother is a twin and I wanted to be one too. During one of our many family vacations to Wallowa Lake a little boy asked us if we were twins. I was thrilled that he thought we could be, but then crushed the very next moment as my sister snarled back "no!"

But as you can see from the photo above, there were times when she didn't mind looking like my twin. The photo above was after we had our new Dorothy Hamill hair cuts.

I worshiped her. Anything she did, I wanted to do, even from an early age. She folded laundry and emptied the dishwasher and I had to do it too. She did tap dance and tumbling...so did I. I know it bugged her sometimes.

However since we lived in a rural area, we became great friends. My friends liked hanging out with her and her friends wouldn't mind me hanging around. As we got older the slight age difference mattered less and less.

When I moved to Connecticut she gave me a stern warning that if I became a snobby, materialist person as a result of being on the East Coast then she was dragging me back. I, in turn, told her if she wanted me to come back she just had to tell me she was pregnant. I ended up taking nine years to fulfill that promise as I had been in CT for five years by the time she had my adorable niece. 

Now that I am back, having more time with her been priceless. I will admit that knowing I would have more time with her and being around to help her was a huge reason I wanted to come back. I look forward to making many new memories.

We are sisters by blood, friends by choice.