I have a big sister. She’s nine years older than me. Tonight I feel like writing about her. So I will.
My sister is amazing. I call her my trial-blazer. Being nine years ahead of me she figures it all out, then tells me what to do and what not to do. It’s pretty great. I remember getting lots of boyfriend advise from her as a teenager (she was already married). She gave me great tips on parenting. She helps me deal with getting older. She gives me lots of “heads up” for the future. It’s a great thing.
We live far apart – she’s in California, I’m in Wisconsin. We don’t see each other more than a couple times a year. Sometimes only once. But at times our lives seem intertwined in a sort of surreal way. She’ll tell me a great book she’s reading, and I’m already reading it. She’ll be going through something and I realize I am going through the exact same thing. A few weeks ago she started reading my blog. She called me all excited…what I wrote about addressed things she was experiencing!
There is something cool about coming from the same parents. Even being nine years apart, we see characteristics that we got from our parents in one another and laugh (or sometimes cry.) We are so much alike sometimes its scary. But then we are so different in some ways too. But somehow we understand each other in ways no one else really can.
Lately my sister and I are both going through leading organizations that are navigating lots of changes. Today she called me. She wanted to debrief a meeting she had. A couple nights ago I called her, I needed to talk about my fears. It is so great to have a sister who cares.
Once my sister told me that when I was born I was the most beautiful child she had ever seen. She was so proud. I still feel that from her. And I am so proud of her. It’s great to have a big sister. I just needed to say it out loud.
Journey in the Dark 