I had lunch with my sister yesterday. I always enjoy spending time with her, just the two of us. We’re sisters so we’ve had our ups and downs over the years, especially those “teen” years. But we are closer than we’ve ever been and will remain best friends for life.
We are only 11 months apart in age. So we were close from an early age. I’ve never in my entire life celebrated a Christmas without her and hope I never do. I was born five days after Christmas in 1961 and she was born on December 7, 1962. Before starting schools we were each others best friend and we were arm in arm everywhere we went. My mother even occasionally dressed us alike. Looking back on this I can’t really remember if we liked this or not.
As we look out the window and see our old friend time creeping up on us we will walk arm and arm into the future no matter what it may hold for each of us. We have both been married, divorced, and happily remarried. Our views on things are not always the same, but we respect and listen to each other opinions. She has four wonderful children, all of which she has shared with me.
But I do have a vivid memory of sitting on top of her, with her arms pinned under my knees, and banging her head on the floor as hard as I could. I don’t remember our age, but it was probably before either of us started school. She will tell you to this day, that she is a little afraid of me. I find this funny, because I’m really not a physically violent person.
In elementary school if we argued or fought, my dad would make us sit on the couch with our arm around each other. I think he loved this. He would walk through the living room and laugh at us. As we grew into our teenage years, it was our mouths that got us into trouble. Something would happen and we would start the smart, sarcastic remarks. I think all sisters do this. This yelling at each other really got on my dad’s nerves. He would tell us if we wanted to fight to go out in the yard and “duke it out”, because he couldn’t stand listening to our mouths. The last time we actually got a spanking we were probably between 12 or 13 years old. I don’t remember what we were arguing about, but it had been going on for awhile. My dad told us if he heard one more word out of us he was going to get his belt. Now at that age we had not had a spanking in a very long time. So we shut up and shot daggers at each other with our eyes. When she wasn’t looking I put salt in her tea. I still laugh remembering the expression on her face. But she immediately starting raising her voice and running her mouth. I of course had to respond in a similar fashion.
My dad came into the kitchen with his belt and said “I warned you.” Trisha took her licks first, only a couple as I remember. He took me by the arm and when he went to spank me I started dancing around and moving. I was the scaredy cat one. It wasn’t like my dad beat us, just a quick swat or two with the belt. When I started dancing around, my dad and my sister both started laughing. I think he only got one in and that was a glancing blow on the calf. But we all laughed.
My sister and I have a lot ahead of us. Both good and bad I think. I’m really glad that she is my sister and my friend. She knows she can lean on me and I know she is there for me. Through thick and thin she is my sister.
