A sister's love

My sister has been on my mind an awful lot this week. We've been talking constantly and video chatting and I've been tearing up with joy seeing her and her beautiful wife and those two perfect babies so happy. She is always on my mind, of course, but this week especially. Our mother used to tell us, "a sister is a forever friend", and we had plenty of plaques and drawings with that very slogan. It's true, you know, thirty years later and my sister is still my forever friend.



In my time of such sweet sweet happiness, a dear friend of mine several states away is in pain. She lost her sister yesterday, to a brain aneurism followed by complications, on her fiftieth birthday. This friend has been at my side for years. For everything. If the kids are doing something new she is writing to me to congratulate them on their accomplishments. If I'm having a rough day she is there wishing me joy and sending her love. And although she and I can talk and talk about how much losing a sister hurts and how sad she is feeling, I know that nothing I can say will take this pain away from her. But know this, dear friend, that your sister will always be there with you, even if she's not here physically. Forever means forever.