My Sisters

I'm the oldest in my family, and I have two younger sisters. I've been running these journaling challenges over at Scrapaddict.com, and the one for this week involves how alike or different I am from my siblings. I've always gotten along well with my sisters, but as we spend more time together, the more the little things start annoying us. Over time I've realized that this is because we all are pretty alike, although we're also very different.

My older younger sister has always been more "girly". She has always taken the time and effort to look nice even if she has to spend more money. I'm more about comfortable "mommy" clothes, as she has put it. We've always both been very shy and quiet. As we've gotten older, though, through various circumstances, she's been "forced" to be more outgoing. I'm afraid that I've relied on my DH many times to be the outgoing one while I retreat into my comfort zone. For some reason, when it comes to being in the kitchen, we both like to be in control, so this can lead to some arguments. She is much better with children than I am because she doesn't mind getting down on their level and playing with them, no matter what game it may be. Ironically, I have more children, but I really admire her for the quality time she spends with her daughter and with my children when she comes to visit. I'm much more comfortable rough-housing with the kids, but she can do all the "girly" stuff with the girls, too. Most of all, she has always been so generous with her time and with her money. She is always checking on my parents and taking care of them. She used to take care of me when I was still going to school and she was already working. She even bought me shoes when I wore holes in my favorite pair.

My youngest sister used to be like a stranger to me. Although we spent lots of time together in high school, she tended to keep to herself. I would have to describe her as quiet but not shy, although she can be shy, too. Now, I feel like we have more in common--kids in sports activities, scrapbooking (a mutual obsession), and similar lifestyles. She has always been more thrifty than my other sister and me. She used to be more self-centered. Now, she is much more generous with her time and money. She drove three hours with my parents just to go to my son's First Communion and Confirmation, then drove back so she could go to her son's baseball game. She has done the same just so she could accompany me to a crop at my local scrapbook store. She still knows the best places to get a great gift for less, but the difference is that she gives gifts to my kids "just because".

I think I've gone on and on enough here. I should probably edit the above better, but the bottom line is that I love my sisters very much. I'm so happy that we can be as close as we are, both in our relationships with each other and in the physical distance that separates us. :)