Sisters, sisters, there were never more devoted sisters...

I have to admit that I've been a little jealous of Averie and Caris. In all truth, even though I had a brother and sister, I never really grew up with them. By the time my Mom and Dad adopted me, my siblings were older, living elsewhere, and struggling in their own lives just to survive. For all intents and purposes, I grew up an only child. So, when Charlie and I decided to start our family, we had more than one, by design. I wanted my kids to have sibling memories.

Of course, I've learned you don't grow up loving your siblings. There have been those days when one offspring, in frustration, would ask me that inevitible question; "Why am I not an only child?" Still, in these last few years, as my girls are going through those milestones of life; boyfriends, dating, college, I find that they turn to each other quite often and I've heard each of them say more than once that their sister is their best friend. Someone they can confide in, someone they can cry to when auditions don't go the way they hoped, someone they can bounce lines off of, someone to call when they get callbacks, someone to help them write an English paper, someone they can complain to when their boyfriends are making them crazy. In secrecy, even though it makes my heart swell that they have each other, the other side of me longed for that relationship that I did not have. Until now.


Now, not a day goes by that I don't think about my sister. She's the first one I call when I need to vent. She's the first one I call when something exciting is happening. Now, the weeks are long in between my opportunities to run away to San Diego to see her. Now, I long for the giggles, and believe me, there are many. Though we only live 90 minutes apart, the drive feels like an eternity when I know her broad grin is waiting for me on the other end of the 5 freeway. You would never know that we hadn't grown up together. The only thing missing is the childhood memories. But since we found each other 3 years ago, we are making up for lost time. We pack those years into minutes and cherish every one. I have those moments where I wish we had grown up knowing each other, but then I wonder if that would lessen the feeling of gratitude I have for her now. Nah. She's awesome. Still, I'm so grateful to be able to say "My sister". And I'm not so jealous of Averie and Caris anymore.