When my daughter was old enough, she begged me to have another girl because she wanted a sister. My sister and I were not really very close at the time. We had lived in other states since I was 16 and had gotten busy in our own little worlds. Remembering our sibling rivalries, I advised my daughter against having a sister. But every once in awhile, my sister and I would seem to be "in sync" with each other even if it only lasted a short time. She approved my "For List" when I got married, took a Sacred Path journey with me, and we even took our daughters to horseback riding lessons where we enjoyed riding as much as they did. And in between these adventures we both wondered how we could actually have been born into the same family, we felt we were so different. We would drift away from each other and get sucked back into our little worlds.
You have probably heard about friendships, that there are three types: the one that lasts a lifetime, the one that lasts a season, and the one that is only there for a reason. The great thing about a sister's love is that it is a friendship that has the opportunity to be all three. Even if you try to emancipate yourself, a sisters' love binds you together. And when family stuff always brings you back together even for a brief encounter like in a hospital waiting room, it's all you need to sync up again.
When I was in junior high, I had a good friend who was best friends with her little sister. I wanted that so much but every time I tried to bring my big teenage sister around it didn't work out. Either her friends talked her out of it or my friends talked me out of it and we went back to our sibling rivalry. Eventually, my friend from junior high school had drifted apart from her sister. Fortunately, for us my sister and I came to a point as mature women where we both realized we had become each others' best friend. A sister's love is like that-- it ebbs and flows but like an ocean wave it always come back in to wash over you. And I know that my friends from Junior High will always have opportunities to sync up again and if they are lucky, they will reignite their friendship. Sadly, my daughter will not have the chance to do this since she was the only girl in a family of four boys. But I imagine that will have its perks, too, as family stuff brings them back together over a lifetime.
In the meantime, I will treasure my sister's love for the reasons we are there for each other, for the seasons we came in and out of each other's bond, and for a lifetime of friendship.
