Ready or Not, Here She Comes

Today is the day! Chris' big sister D is coming to meet him, and we couldn't be more excited! Harper has been asking for days when her new aunt will arrive. It's hard explaining to a 5 year old, who's known her sister since she was born, that her daddy has never met his. It's a concept that just sounds crazy to her. I guess it is crazy really. I can't imagine going through life without my one of my sisters!

I'm a middle child, (your sympathy is appreciated), surrounded on either side by sisters. Incredible sisters I might add. The only problem I have with having sisters is that I miss them so much it hurts!! They live 1800 miles away from me. Not cool my friends. 

Growing up my sisters were my allies, my best friends, my worst enemies. Oh yeah...we fought all the time. I remember literally rolling around on the bed, trying with all my redheaded angry glory to rip my big sister's hair out. I can't remember why, but I'm sure there was a good reason behind it...

Our little sister was our weapon. She was so sweet and incredibly adorable, but Lynnae and I never underestimated her. Kelly has a ferocity to her that needed to be put to good use. So, being the responsible, caring sisters that we are, we helped her harness that gift against each other. 

One time when Lynnae and I were fighting, I told Kelly to throw a tap shoe at her. So she did...a shoe with a metal plate attached was hurled right into Lynnae's head. Even though Kelly attacked, Lynnae knew the message came from me. 

So she told Kelly to get back at me. A little while later, that cute little kid walks over and stands in front of me while I'm watching TV. See, even though we knew her powers, her adorable little face was so distracting and misleading that it was easy to let our guard down. But that sweet face all of a sudden contorted with effort as she wielded a banana smack against my nose. I don't know why she chose a banana, but let me tell you...it hurt! 

We fought like crazy, but we loved each other more. When our parents got divorced, we had each other. When we needed to laugh or cry or smile, we had each other. Allies, best friends, sisters. 

Now that we're grown, there's much less fighting. And the arguments that do occur are definitely more civilized. We call each other and FaceTime frequently throughout the week, and I would be so lost without them. 

Chris has two sisters and a brother on his Holohan side of the family. Even though they grew up in different states, he is definitely not without stories and childhood memories of time with his siblings. But to have another sibling you never met, didn't even know existed until your 30's...it's crazy! 

How do you even begin to catch up on the last 35 years? Not even catch up, but start from scratch really. Because a sister should know everything, right? I know what my sisters are good at, what they like to do, their favorite foods, what schools they went to, their high school boyfriends, their achievements...

Tonight, when we pick D up at the airport, Chris will lay eyes on a blood relative for the first time, apart from his own children. The next four days will be filled with stories and photo albums and maybe even a few tears. And my sister count goes from 4 (including my SILs Melissa and Jessica) to 5. The more sisters the better, because sisters are awesome!