Sister-Friend

Today, my older sister turns another year older (what, you think I'm going to give away her age on a public blog?). We're not that far apart, age-wise, but we are miles and miles apart geographically, and even farther apart when it comes to what is going on in our respective lives. We are both mothers and wifes and neighbors and Latter-Day Saints...busy, busy, busy.

I love my sister-friend. Really, that should be plural. I have a healthy-sized family, including six sisters, and many, many more sisters-in-law. They are all my friends, and I am blessed to have them. The love and support I receive from them is precious to me, and no small part of the happiness in my life. By celebrating one in particular, I do not diminish the luster of the rest.

This particular sister, the one who celebrates her birthday today, has been my friend my entire life. She is responsible for my childhood nickname (which still clings tenaciously to me in certain family circles). She is often a voice of reason when I am all passionate and opinionated and poorly-informed. She is a source of brain-storming for so many topics and occasions.

When I first moved away from home, she and I shared an apartment and a car. When I was first married -and first pregnant - she was serving a mission in Russia, and was my faithful pen pal, whose letters lit up my days and lifted me out of my own little world.

So many years, so many memories, so many smiles.

I am grateful for the memories and the smiles. And I am grateful for the "cat fights" and the misunderstandings, because they come in very handy now, as I raise daughters who are each other's sisters. I am grateful for similar interests and stark differences, because they help me to grow and at the same time, help me to feel at home. I am grateful for my sister and my friend. I am truly blessed to have her as both.

What are you blessed with today?