Sisters

A friend was telling me earlier today about a trip she is taking to go see her sister this next weekend. My first reaction was joy and happiness for her and her sister. My second was a gut deep feeling of envy and regret and sadness for myself. 

There are a lot of relationships I missed out on in my life. I never knew either of my grandfathers as one died before I was born and the other when I was a toddler.  My dad died when I was in college so I never knew him adult to adult.  

And I never had a sister. 

The sister connection  is the one that I’m most envious of because it’s a lifelong relationship and one like no other I’ve ever seen. I grew up watching the relationships my mother had with her sisters and the relationship my dad’s sisters had with each other. Even now, I watch my friends who have sisters. I love seeing the trips they take together. And the relationships they have. And the bond they share. And there is a deep place in me that longs for that. 

I am blessed to have good female friends. Some who I have been friends with through a lot of things and for a very long time. But as good as those friends are, they aren’t sisters. 

And I have two brothers, but for a number of reasons, it’s not the same. 

And I have cousins who I love and who have been a part of the fabric of my life for as long as I can remember. But it’s not the same. 

So if you are lucky enough to have a sister you are close to, cherish her. Take the trips. Spend the time. Build the relationship. Strengthen the bond. Because you have a gift more precious than you may realize. And a gift that those of us who don’t have, wish that we did.