Getting To Know You . . .

When you find out at age 36 that you have a sister you never knew about, there's a bit of a learning curve that has to be dealt with. There's learning how to have a sister. And learning how to be a sister. Also, learning what it means to not be an only daughter. And learning how to share your parents {in a daughterly way - sorry brothers}.

Those types of learning don't even take into account the fact that a brand new person is suddenly thrust to the forefront of your mind and you crave any tiny nugget of learning about that person that comes your way. In the beginning, to quote my parents, "it's like trying to drink from a firehose".  But Oh! The water from that firehose is so very delicous and so unbelieveably thirst quenching!

Then, as time passes and the new person becomes a regular and necessary part of your life through phone calls, emails, gift giving and not-frequent-enough visits, you begin to settle into a sense of normalcy and peace with how everything has turned out. Unfortunately, the passage of time tends to fade those frenzied beginnings that set the head aspin and the heart all aflutter as you settle into a comfortable relationship more fit for life-long siblings than newly discovered ones.

Luckily, there are moments of brilliance - moments where you once again capture that feeling of complete giddiness and adoration for this person and it causes you to wonder, once again, how you got so lucky. 

Spending a few days in Ohio with my sister was just such a time.  While there, I was reminded of a few things - things I already knew, but took for granted. Dear Edward was with me and captured some examples:

She's a devoted mom to three darling children who adore her wholeheartedly.  She's patient and kind with them - something I could be better at.
 

She is a great listener, offering sound advice and wisdom.  It's no wonder her niece loves her so much! 

She's a doting Aunt to my children.  They were each the beneficiary of some sort of special attention from her during our stay and Mr. Ollie even got his first dip in a pool with her.

And she is a caring and delightful sister and friend.  See the smile on my face?  It is genuine happiness. I am remarkably impressed with how she has taken me in and given me unconditional love and acceptance.

Thanks sis for a truly relaxing and delightful visit. It was so fun to spend more time getting to know you and it was hard to come back to real life!