Relationship: Sisters

My sister is here! She lives in a place most people have never heard of--Naukati, Alaska. It's a long way from her home to mine, but she usually makes it down a couple times a year. She drives 1 1/2 hours on a gravel road, then takes a four hour ferry trip, then flies from Ketchikan, Alaska to Portland, Oregon and finally drives another four hours south to my place. It's not an easy trip, especially for those of us who are moving beyond our middle years. I'm sixty and my sister isn't far behind. And of course there is always the trip back to Alaska. My sister is a trooper.

 All of this to say, I'm thankful she's here. And that I know she'll continue to come to see family, which includes me.

Family is a special relationship, but there's something unique between sisters. I know that's not always true--I get that, but me and my Sis are blessed. We don't always agree. We have even said unkind things to each other, but I never doubt that she loves me and my love for her will never die. It is amazing to have a person like that in my life.

She's the one who shares my memories of little girls and Barbie dolls and twirling to watch dresses bloom. And she's the teen sister who shared and kept secrets and the friend I talked to about my most recent crush. She's the young woman who was the first to know I was having a baby and the first one I told that I'd lost that child. We've talked kids, hugged in airports, shed tears and angry words, and we've prayed together and trusted God together.

 I'm thankful for my sister. Even after all these years, I know that if I need to talk she will listen. She's irreplaceable. I love you, Sis.

Grace and peace to you from God,

Bonnie