The Unique Bond of Sisters

I talk a lot about my brothers, because they are a very big and important part of my life, but I should also point out that I have an amazing big sister. She is almost 15 years older than me, so our relationship is different than most.
When I was very little, my big sister was my world. She was my hairstylist, my babysitter, my idol and my buddy. She would take me places with her & her friends and she treated me like I was the coolest thing since sliced bread. She & her friends would make me clothes in Home Ec, buy me toys, and teach me lots of new things. I loved every minute of it.
Unfortunately circumstances beyond my control took her from my life for many years. One day I just woke up and she was gone. I didn't know why, I only knew I missed her like crazy. I won't get into the details, let's just say sometimes things happen in a family, and people react harshly. Those reactions can lead to decisions and actions that snowball and greatly effect the people around them. I was too young to understand these things at the time, I only knew that someone very, very important to me was gone. This has a lasting effect on a person. After awhile, I started to realize she wasn't coming back, and I didn't know how to deal with it. I wrote her letters that I couldn't mail, and I slept with her picture under my pillow. I cried a lot. When you only have one sister, losing her leaves a hole that can never be filled.
Luckily for me, many years later, circumstances allowed us to be reunited. It wasn't easy, and with a big age gap, and so many missing years, it took time to rebuild our relationship. But we never gave up. We saw each other as often as we could, and we built a new kind of bond. We learned about each other, and talked about the things we had missed out on in each other's lives. Eventually, we formed a friendship. As I got older, and we had more in common, that friendship grew & it continues to grow to this day. She is more than just my big sister, she is my best friend. We don't talk every day, or even once a week. Sometimes we allow too much time to pass between visits, but we make up for it when we get together. I always know that no matter what, I can count on her to be there. No questions asked. She may not always understand me, or agree with me, but she always loves me. She often tells me I'm crazy, or bitchy, or a pain in the ass, but she does it with a smile and a laugh that tell me she loves me in spite of those things.
My sister never had it easy, but she always fought for what was important and she never gave up. She has a strength of character that is rare, and I admire it. She is far from perfect, and she doesn't try to be, and that is her best quality. She accepts people for who they are, and sees the best in them. She doesn't judge or criticize, and she's always willing to lend a hand to someone in need. She would give the shirt off her back to help a stranger and not think twice.
 Sometimes I wonder what our relationship would be like if we had never been apart. Would she still like me, or would she have grown tired of having her baby sister around? Would we have the same appreciation for one another as we do, for having been seperated? I don't know, and I never will. All I do know is that I have an amazing big sister, and she means the world to me, and I probably don't tell her that enough. So this one's for you, sis. I love you.

 

I don't have a lot of photos of my sissy and I (she's a *tad* camera shy)

but I've always loved this one of us from many years ago.