This week she shares about her sisters. I have a vivid memory of this exact day. I had made a "family newspaper" and had spent all day working on it for when everyone came over. (Random memory- I know). I also remember this fight happening...yet I don't remember the silence that came after...I only remember the laughter that followed.
Sisters……
Girls God put in your Life
 |
| Circa 2004 (I think) Mom, Ruby, Janice & Jenny (Granny in front) |
Mark loves the movie, Christmas
Vacation, with Chevy Chase. You know the one…Chevy goes to the attic, watches
old home movies, and cries for the good ole days. He’s watching our home movies
now, the VHS edition. I watched for an hour earlier, but decided it was time to
quit…I missed my young parenting days. I
do always love watching the dynamics of our girls being sisters; love Jessica
being “little mama,” love watching Lauren emulate her big sissy, even love their
arguments; always with the prissy little hands on the hips!
All that sisterly love made me think back to my childhood; being
the third of four girls--Jenny, then Ruby (4 and 5 years older than me), and
Janice (4 years younger). I wrote once
that the third child in the family wasn’t important out of four. When you’re
the middle child, it’s a problem we have (although it is NOT true, you that are
third born).
When you are sisters, there are always pivotal moments in
your relationships. I’m about to share our biggest : )
After our dad passed away, my two older sisters helped my
mom keep her independence by doing practically everything for her at her house.
They really were unbelievable. Every
time they came to mom’s they had work to do. A few years ago, my family went
home to visit; and as always, when there were lots of us, we all gathered on
the back patio for a huge picnic.(We all loved this family tradition - you know
the type of day; everybody cooks their specialty, and we all eat until we’re
stuffed!)
Just as we were getting ready to serve dinner, Jenny came up
the stairs and announced that she would be right back, but she had washed my
clothes (to surprise me) and was going to hang them out on the line. If you
know Jenny, you know she adores fresh smelling clothes. ……I objected. Jen, you
can’t hang my undies on the line right where the men are all sitting! Jen
laughed and headed out the door. She was being such a great sister, but all I
could think of was my big ole underwear being hung outside for all to see! I
took the basket out of her arms, and zipped through the house with it!
As I returned, my sister Ruby was getting ready to empty the
garbage can. Again, what a great sister because in doing so we would have space
for new trash. But it smelled, and we were getting ready to eat. I said, “No,
it stinks.” She laughed and continued to
work (as they always did). I took the trash can and threw it down the basement
stairs, so as to get rid of the smell. I can remember my mom, sitting in her
wheelchair, saying, “Oh Lord, what has happened to my girls?”
I can never remember arguing with my sisters like
that. We ate in silence. All of us kept exchanging glances at each other, as if
to say, are we alright? Later that day, we all had a great time laughing at all
of us, about how silly the entire situation looked. The next day, I remember,
my girls said they understood my sisters completely, working at our mom’s was
what they always did, and they were doing what they always did...Made perfect
sense.
I will go to my death remembering that day as one of the
funniest memories with my sisters. I love knowing that no matter how we act, no
matter if we are wrong or right…."Love keeps no record of wrong doing…” and at
the end of the day, there are no people that I want to get along with or not
get along with...more than my sisters!!
No comments:
Post a Comment