Emma: “Clingy and he has just knocked over the soap bottle. God, I wish we lived closer together.
Me: “I know. How freaking awesome would it be?”
Emma: “I don’t care where it is – but this weekend we are getting vino, chocolate and DVDs and we are going to talk until the sun comes up. I miss you.”
Me: “I will be there on Friday. Get the vino chilled.”
There is only 21 months apart from my sister, Emma and
I. We have always been close. Admittedly, we have shared our fair share of
hair-pulling, name-calling and bitch-slapping moments but since we have both
become mothers – we have this new understanding.
An understanding that is silent, profound and humbling.
An understanding of how utterly exhausting it is to have a
teething child glued to your hip all day, or how it feels when your children
reach milestones. Or when the husbo
drives you insane – or when the endless chores feel like your job is never done.
I find that all Emma and I need to do when we are feeling
down, flat or upset is to call each other.
The conversation always starts with a “I need your opinion”…continues on
with the situation….and then finishes with a “Tell me - am I being stupid?”. It’s the other sister’s responsibility to
reassure, reassess and restore the confidence and kick-ass attitude. It’s their responsibility to virtually wipe
away the tears through the telephone, dust the other sister off, give them a
kiss and tell her to Go Get ‘Em!
This is all while we wrangle our children with one hand,
juggle the phone in between the crease in our neck and spontaneously scream “Can
you stop sucking the soap please”….or “GET
OUT OF THE FRIDGE!!!”…..or “Macie stop putting necklaces on your brother” as
Will starts to look like a drag queen!
At the moment I am reading the memoir “Bloom” by Kelle
Hampton (the writer of Enjoying the Small Things – my most favourite
blog). She writes of how she felt like
she let her eldest daughter Lainey down when Nella was born. She felt like she robbed her of a beautiful
sister-to-sister relationship – however she realised that nothing is stronger
than a sister bond – and not even Down Syndrome could taint it. A relationship that is like a lifeline - that
is there through thick and thin. And I couldnt agree more.
And I look forward to the years to come as our families
grow, our children continue to blossom and our marriages mature. I don’t know where we will be or where we
will have come from….but I do know one thing….and that is that we will always
be there for each other.
I have two sisters: one two and a half years older than me (but it seems a lot less) and one ten years older than me. My 'closer' sister and I have always been 'closer' - growing up very much as a unit, together always, did everything together, we were 'the little girls' (I have a brother 12 years older as well). Now though we are still really close in some ways, and really gone different ways and chosen different paths in our adult life which keeps us apart. She lives in the jungle in Cambodia chasing turtles for conservation, I live in outback Qld with my husband planning a family and a home, I need a nest to feather, she needs a backpack on her back and a plane ticket to her next destination. I am sad sometimes that we might not share being young mothers together like you and Emma. My other sister who is much older than us was HORRIBLE to us when we were younger but is now so much closer to us, I think she feels guilty, she's always apologising for past behaviour! As my older sister and I now share similar life stages of being married etc. I sometimes would call her over my nomadic sister who 'doesn't understand' lol Can't imagine life without sisters though, it is a phenomenal bond. Sometimes I say I wouldn't mind having all boy children but sisters are so special.
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