Cooper asked in the comments on my last post if I had any helpful hints on having such a wonderful Sisterly or Sibling bond. I am not sure if I do, but I would like to tell the tale of me and my Sister’s. Who knows maybe it will help?My older Sister, E, is two years older than I. She was born with brown hair and freckles (or at least the frekles showed up quickly after her arrival). She likes to refer to herself as “the Golden Child” being the first of four. That is the one thing that still bothers me, that she thinks of herself that way, but somethings you have to let go of.
I arrived two years later, blonde with no freckles (they came later after basking in the glow of the sun). E was not alone for long and we were forced to play together for a long time. We lived in a a small town called Manotick, which now is not so small, and our nearest neighbour was a gazillion miles away. When I was about three we moved to a neighbourhood with neighbours and E and I quickly met new friends and branched out a little.
We were happy us two for seven more years, until… R arrived.R was born in England, another blonde, two months late. The Doctors kept telling my Mom that her due date of early July must have been wrong. My mother knew otherwise and just kept up her spirits that R would arrive sooner rather than later. September rolled around and R finally arrived. Much to E and I’s dismay that she was not a brother. My poor mother slipped a disc from carrying R for two extra months, so it was up to E and I to help out. We made a quick bond with R nurturing and caring for her and bringing her to Mom while she recovered (E was 9 and I was 7 at this time). E and I were happy that our family was complete.
We came back to Canada which was great because it meant we could resume playing with old friends and not just each other. In England, although we met new friends, we stayed close together. Nothing says outsider like two little girls with Canadian accents who wouldn’t wear their undies for gym class!Seven wonderful years went by, E and I shared a room, much to our dismay and R had her own little abode. R would lie on the floor at bed time and watch through the crack at the bottom of the door. Always wanting to be with the bigger girls. We would go and check on her at bedtime and she would be asleep with her head pressed up against the door.
Then one day Mom tells us that another sibling is to arrive. The shock, the horror!! At 13 and 15 , E and I were done with extra siblings and found it a bit embarassing. When J arrived, blonde again, she made her presence known quite quickly. She was not one to be left behind. Her desire to hang out with the older siblings led her to walking at 7 months. She walked so early that her little legs were bowed for a while. But, that did not stop her. By the time she was a year she was running after us at no cost. We all thought she was a clumsy little gal, always bumping into stuff, walls in particular. It wasn’t until she was being registered for kindergarten that we found out she needed glasses. Apparently her vision was so bad, that we were just shapes and sounds to her. We all felt terrible that we didn’t know, but glasses changed her world dramatically.
As the years went by we always did stuff together. E and I would take R and J out to give Mom a break. Every year we took the family trip to our favorite beach squashed into whichever car was the biggest we had at the time. Looking back it is incredible that we didn’t beat the tar out of each other in the car every year, but we didn’t! Mom says now that if minivans had been around back then, we would have had one for sure. But, the vans that were around were tanks. I know we have one ;).
E and I definately had our ups and downs over the years. Being so close in age made us butt heads a little more with each other than with R and J. In our mid-teens we used to take swings at each other, but one day Mom started crying so we put a stop to that nonsense. I cannot recall any disagreements or fights with either R or J and I attribute that to being further apart in age. The older we get thought, the closer in age we feel.
Although J and I are fourteen years apart, we still love to do the same things and often people ask us if we are twins. I love that as it makes me feel so so much younger. J is the most like me, we went surfing together, we love to lie on a beach and we love funky music and clothes. E and R are more similar in that they are a bit more conservative, could take the beach or leave it and are less likely to take a few risks.
I can’t say what keeps us hanging out together. I see R at least four days out of seven in a week. And if J lived here longer, I would see her more too. E living in Regina makes it a bit harder, but when she did live here we could walk to her place in five minutes. It was great. Perhaps the fact that I talk to my Mom and/or Dad at least four days out of seven and if a week goes by that we don’t talk, it is very strange. Poor Mom, I talk to her just as much on vacation as I do at home. They can never truly get away from us kids, so I guess we all stick together. And quite frankly, I love it. Some people think we are nuts to hang out so much. I personally think it is great, that my own best friends are my Sister’s.
** I tried to post some photos, but am having trouble, hopefully later.
