"There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters"

"Sisters, sisters
There were never such devoted sisters,
Never had to have a chaperone, no sir,
I'm there to keep my eye on her..."


Today is my one and only sister's birthday. She's a wee bit older than I (9 whole years - in case you've dared to wonder - "Who's older??) Doesn't she look fabulous? She hardly has a wrinkle. When the rest of us were climbing on the roof and slathering on baby oil and iodine with a reflective blanket - SHE was inside slathering on the 50 SPF. We used to laugh at her - but I'm quite sure she's the one laughing now.

I've left my mark on my sister's life. Wanna know how? I thought you did. Well...I don't exactly remember doing it, but apparently I broke a red candy dish when I was a toddler and in an effort to scoop me up and save me from cutting myself - I cut her leg. (This is her story anyway.) Now - some 40-something years later, she can look down at her leg and think of me. Isn't that sweet?

She returned the favor by telling me that a monster lived down the drain - causing me to cry inconsolably until our mom came home from work. Poor sister. She basically had co-custody with my parents since they both worked and couldn't afford after-school childcare. I can't imagine my 12 year old daughter being responsible for the things my sister did at that age. She cooked, she cleaned and she babysat. Many of my first memories are of my sister caring for me. Unfortunately for her, I was rarely cooperative.

When she was 15 or 16, she met the love of her life. Guess what? I got to go on most of their dates. Doesn't that sound exactly like what you want to do when you're 16? Take your kid sister along? I used to wait up and peek outside to see if they were kissing. The best part is that guy is still around. They've been married for 30 years. When my sister had her children - of course I loved them - and do! But...I was a little sad, because I was her first baby.

When I was 21, and she was 30, somehow....by some strange twist of fate (except that I don't really believe in fate - it must have been God in His sovereignty) she and I ended up in the same lawschool, in the same section! Frankly - at age 21, I couldn't imagine why anyone that old would want to start a new career. It wasn't easy on her. She had a child, a husband and she traveled hours to law school every day. I don't know how she ever did it - but I'm so glad she did. We were - for the first time in our relationship - peers. Everyone knew us as "the sisters". When she wanted to say something and couldn't articulate it - she would point to me and say "she knows what I'm thinking!!..." One day in Civil Procedure Class (we called the professor "Mean Gene" because he had reputation for humiliating students in front of everyone)- she saw a pen mark on my pantyhose and mistakenly thought it was an enormous long leg hair. When she discovered her mistake, she began to snicker - then I did; then her whole body shook with a stiffled giggle; so did mine; then tears streamed down her face; then mine. When neither of us could contain ourselves, we had to bend down and pretend to be getting something out of our bookbag. Did we get into trouble? Honestly - I can't remember what happened after that. I can only remember that I've never laughed so hard for so long.

Now we're grown women - and it's been over 20 years since we giggled together in Mean Gene's Class. We're busy raising our families and we don't see each other as much as we would like. Whenever we talk on the phone, I realize how much I miss her. I miss her on a cellular level. Like twins - fraternal, not identical. She and I are nothing alike - and yet, we're everything alike. She's blond, I'm not. She's tall(er) - I'm short. She's methodical, I'm impulsive. She's Dad, I'm Mom. We both have the same big booty, tho'.

Happy Birthday, Sister. I love you.