I Am Rich With Sisters

How many sisters are you lucky enough to have? One? Three? Here is a link to a BBC article that says "Sisters Make People Happy" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7977454.stmSisters

I have 5 sisters and a brother. I know they all make me happy sometimes and are especially useful in times of stress. They are willing to listen to me when I feel like complaining although one charges me for swearing. She charges 25 cents per swear word. Once, on a particularly rough day, I asked her if I could please just give her five dollars so I could get this story out without pause and she said no. She has her limits and swearing is one of those limits. Sisters are useful in helping through times of crisis and remembering events from years ago that I have forgotten. One of my sisters died tragically when I was four and she seven, forcing me into the role of the eldest when I really wasn't supposed to take that place. I remember her. I cherish and rehearse those memories like a miser counting money. I don't want to forget her. I've rehearsed those memories so many times I don't even know how accurate they are anymore. I remember playing on the east side of the house with our aunt who was about the same age as I was. It was summer time and we were wearing shorts and halter tops. My sister was playing with my aunt and I remember her saying, "Let Susie play." Awww, big sister sticking up for me. A big sister who wanted her 4 year old sister to be included in a child's game is an awesome sister. I remember her sitting on Dad's lap. I remember standing in a crib in the bedroom and she was in the other bed. My last memory is of her sitting with her legs between the iron bars of a bed headboard at Children's Hospital. I was standing outside in the parking lot. She waved at me through the window. I remember my Grandmother picking up my arm and moving it, making me wave back. After that my sister, my only sister at that time, was gone. No one talked about it much. Although she was physically gone, my big sister has always had a place in my heart and in my head. She's been there for me during times of celebration and times of hardship. Because she is gone, I am left to only imagine what she would say to me. She has been my forever friend.