Sisters

My sister called this morning. She said, "Okay, Trish (family name), I have a cup of coffee in my hand and some free time and I thought we could have a nice chat for a change."

This kind of conversation was a daily occurrence until a few months ago. My sister, at the ripe old age of 48, began school again. In the days before marriage and children, she went to Tech School and got her Associates Degree in Secretarial Science. But that was a long time ago, and not useful for employment at this stage in her life. She decided to go back to school and study medical terminology, a field that she can use to supplement the family income from home.

Our daily visits over coffee ceased to exist and, boy, have I missed them and her. It's not as if she disappeared from my life. I've continued to visit but the visits have been somewhat less than thorough and very few and far between. So I was thrilled with my call this morning.

We talked for about 1 1/2 hours. We caught up on most of our current life stuff. It was wonderful and reminded me of how special the relationship of "sister" is. I have friends that don't have sisters or that have a large age difference between themselves and their sisters and don't have the benefit of the close friendship that I experience. No one can address a problem in my life with quite the clarity of a sister. No one knows me as well as that woman who has stood beside me for all 45 years of my life. No one is able to look past my shortcomings like the sibling who recognizes all too poignantly that her shortcomings are being looked past, as well. In short, there's nothing like a sister, or the visits we have over the phone.

God bless my sisters, all 3 - the one in California expecting her third grandchild, the one struggling to begin a new career as a Realtor, and the one back in school and fighting to make her mind function the way it did at 20. I love them each and every one.