My sister showered me with gifts this past week. They weren't wrapped in colorful paper and topped with bows. They weren't lucious and dripping with calories, or bottled with a crisp, fruity bouquet, best served chilled...
No, these were a completely different kind of gift. Some of the gifts were delivered and received with laughter, some with sadness. Some came in the form of .jpg files, photos of moments in my life long pushed from the active archieve of my memory. Some were of shared memories, some were of others who are now gone, some were from loved ones I never got to say good-bye to and as I viewed them, the tears fell afresh.
She also gave me new memories, many already carefully recorded on new .jpg files. These memories will be the ones my children will be able to look back on with each other later on in life and say 'Hey, I remember that!'
My brother-in-law gave me a gift as well. Besides the gift of my sister's presence, he gave me the gift of patience, patience as he sat nearby while my sister and I sat up until well past midnight almost every evening, laughing and giggling like the young girls we once were. Patience as we took almost two hours to get ready to go anywhere because we were so easily distracted by memories. And patience as meals were almost always late because we were too busy talking to cook.
I can only hope that one day I will be able to return the favor. I'm not sure that my brother-in-law would consider it as a 'gift' when my sister and I get back together, but he is already making plans for retiring near by. Woooooo hoooooooooo! Now thats something to really look forward to! I wonder if our husbands have ever considered the danger of my sister and I living so close together... probably not! But thats okay because they will have each other. After all, they were close friends before they ever met us. My sister met her future husband at my wedding.
I wonder if my children will be as close to their siblingsas I am to mine. I certainly hope so, because you should not out-grow your family when you grow up, your family should grow with you. I hope all of my children continue to grow together, even as they start growing their own little families. And I hope that there are no more restraining orders!
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13 comments:
What a wonderful tribute to family.
Traci
That was very touching! Something tells me that your sister is thinking the same about you...:O)
Lori
http://journals.aol.com/scotthlori/DiscoveringMe
it must be so nice to be so close to your sister! Mine is 15 years younger than me and we have nothing in common!
Becky
lol im sure they will...minus the restraining orders...lol
That song.."Sisters, Sisters..." comes to mind. My sister reads my journal, she doesn't always comment but when I talk to her she knows exactly what I've been up to.....sometimes she'll tell "Lord, I didn't remember that until you wrote about it...I hadn't thought about that for years!" Enjoy the time you have with her...Sandi
I'm spending time with my two younger sisters right now!! It's wonderful to see them...but unfortunately we only see each other a couple times a year.
I also often hope that my kids are as close to each other as we are. There's nothing like close siblings in adulthood.
Enjoy every minute!!!!
Hey Dorn:
Your gain was our loss. We had them "Over here" for most of five years and we ran ourselves ragged and loved every minute of it. Two sibblings close together physically will give us "Over here" more incentive to visit Colorado. I'm so glad one wedding brought about the next. "Dear ole Dad" is very happy for both sisters. End of Sermon.
Love you both without exception! (Says Mom and Dad)
Those are the best gifts you can get. I'm really happy for you and your sister , that you are so close. That is a great gift all in it's own. I'm glad the husbands are friends, they'll need each other when they move closer.
Hugs, R.C.
What a beautiful picture! I'm so glad that you had a wonderful time with your sister :)
Welcome back!
Hugs,
xoxo
Heather
This made me cry. I miss my sister so much. The estrangement from her, and her abusive husband, breaks my heart. We had talked daily until six years ago when the abusive creep moved her to another town and made it hard for us to have a relationship...and she bought into his crap...and now she has been in and out of mental hospitals...sigh..
The best kinda presents in the world are the kind you can't unwrap.
Family should grow with you! Sounds like the visit was wonderful!
Be well,
Dawn
Enjoy your sister while you can. Of three sisters I had, each is in a different state. One is 4 1/2 years younger, one is 4 years older; the one who died three years ago was a year and two days younger. We did everything together until we got married, then each moved in a different direction from where we were brought up. We used to talk for hours on the phone. In person, we once talked for 27 hours straight after a long separation.
LC
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