My Sister, My Therapist, My Friend

I have been blessed to have one of the most beautiful, talented, fun, caring sisters. If not for her advice to "stay calm" I would be in a hospital right now curled up in a ball crying (that's where her therapist side comes in).

My sister and I did not always get along. She was the older sister who I looked up to and wanted to be just like. I was the little sister who annoyed her by using the phone in her room and stealing her sweaters.

We only shared a room until I was 3 and then after that our parents made sure that we had our own space. However, when we had guests spend the night (grandparents or friends staying from out of town) then we were forced to share a room for the weekend. One of the things that my sister loved to do to me during our sleep overs was scare me. As soon as mom tucked us in and turned out the lights Missy would whisper, "Debbie, there's someone at the window." Now, had I thought for just a second I would realize that would not be possible. Our bedrooms were on the second floor. However, it scared me to death

Having our own rooms was very helpful in keeping the peace at our house. Unless Missy would come into my room. I was the youngest and quite territorial. When I would tell her to leave my room she would drop to the floor and say, "I can't move. You'll have to carry me out." Did I mention I am 6 years younger than her? Carrying her out was not an option at that age.

I don't know at what point we realized that we had much more in common than stealing clothes and trying to scare each other.

I am happy to say that today she is truly one of my best friends. She talked me through the first few days of being a new mom. She talked me through helping Ada deal with a bully on the bus in kindergarten. She let me know ahead of time that my kids were going to ask questions that I was not ready to answer and I just needed to stay calm. And it worked.