Wednesday Factoid: Siblings

Today's Wednesday Factoid is: Do you like your siblings? Why or why not?

Great question, survey.

Yeah dude! My siblings are awesome.

I have two younger sisters: Patricia and Lindsay. P is one year younger and L is five years younger. We grew up in a happy home, and though there were the expected sibling squabbles here and there, we got along reasonably well. We had fairly different interests and our preferences brought us to very different paths in life, but we still have plenty in common, and I love when I get to visit them.

P and I grew up kinda like twins because we were so close in age that I didn't remember being an only child and we were approximately the same size for most of our lives. When we were younger we even dressed alike sometimes. Because of our closeness in age, we were "the big girls" and were put in a different category from our little sister, and given the same responsibilities and privileges for the most part. We played with the same toys and liked a lot of the same books growing up, and occasionally even shared friends.

We often resisted playing with our little sister because she didn't have as much in common with us, being a much younger child by our standards, so she usually had her own pals and spent most of her younger years being more social with friends than we ever were. But we still had some shared games and interests, and even when we were jerks to each other like kids are, we still supported each other and spent time together.

I went to college in 1996 and my two younger sisters developed some new traditions between them. Then P went to college in 1997, but she visited home more often than I did because her college was closer and she was a driver. I spent a good ten years not seeing my family very much, and P moved to Japan, and L moved around a bit and got work in our hometown, sometimes living with my mom for comparatively short stretches. We didn't communicate much. We spent time getting together on holidays, but not a whole lot else.

(As you can see, little sister became the big one.)

Some time later, P moved back from Japan and got married, and her sisters were her bridesmaids. And some time even later, L got married too and . . . again her sisters were bridesmaids.

'Cause we're cute like that.

I like the people my sisters have matured into as adults. I know we're family and that influences your feelings about someone if you're related, but I also like them as people. My sister P is kind and caring and such a great person to have long talks with, and I love that she stays interested and involved in my life even though she's all the way in California with a demanding job and a baby boy. My sister L is funny and intelligent and so much fun to be around, and it's great that she finds time to stay in touch in between her ridiculously busy job and is always happy to step in to support her family when someone needs her. I wish I saw both of them more, but we do the best we can. They both understand things about me that no one else does, and there are certain things we can talk about that don't make sense to other people. I'm grateful that we have that relationship, and I try not to take it for granted.