Seasons Change

This is me with my little sister.

My little sister turns 14 at the end of this year…two more years and you better make sure your are not on the same road as her.

There is a 14 1/2 year age difference between us, with no one in between. I was my mother’s only child, with the exception of step-children, until she came along. I had a big hand in raising her for the first 3 years of her life. When she cried it was always, “Get your sister!” When she needed changed, “Change your sister!” When she needed to eat, well after she was weaned from my mother, it was, “Go fix your little sister a bottle!”

When I got married to my ex-husband, I was quite relieved that I was able to get a break from raising a child at the age of 18. Little did I know, I would quickly miss her.  6 months after my ex and I married, we moved 3 hours away from my little sister. Thankfully, 6 months later, we moved back. Four months after that my ex and I split up. There were a lot of reasons for that split, but one of the them was the fact that he was NOT very nice to my little sister. He would yell at her and tell her to leave us alone. She was 4 years old.

When Hubby and I got together, he treated her like she was his own sister. He went outside and played basketball with her. He sat with her and watched TV. That’s when I realized that I could be with someone that loved her as much as I did!

As my little sister got older, her and I started clashing. A LOT! She was starting to get some attitude…not sure where she got that from. She treated my mom like my dad treated my mom. She got pretty much whatever she wanted. And she was the apple of my dad’s eye. All things that I despised.

We fought all the time, and my dad loved to egg it on. He loved to tell her that I was being mean to her. It never failed that when I went down there, I always left upset and frustrated and she was always in her room crying.

I’m not really sure when things between us started changing. When we both started looking at each other as sisters/friends instead of sisters/enemies.  I do know that I never want it to go back to the way it was before.

The time that I realized it though? About a month ago.

The kids and I went down to see my parents and my little sister. My mom and I always talk, the kids play in the living room while the TV is on what ever channel they prefer, and my sister hides in my parent’s room watching what she wants on TV.

This day was no different. Except for the fact that after a little while, I went in there with her and we discussed what shows we like to watch on a daily basis. Somehow, after 13+ years, a connection seemed to have been made. I left there, not truly realizing what had happened.

I got home, and as most days, okay, all days, I logged onto my FB account. My little sister was on there and she IM’d me.

“Hey. Long time not see”

Me- “Yeah, we need to get together sometime.”

Her- “And do what?”

Me- (Laughing because she didn’t get the joke, but yet totally excited that she wants to actually hang out with me!) “Well, we could go shopping and do lunch?”

Her- “Okay! When?”

Me- “When do you want to go?”

Her- “Sometime before July when I have to go to Chicago.”

Me- “Okay, how about sometime in June?”

Her- “Okay. I’ll start saving my money now!”

Me- “Yeah, me too!!”

I called her yesterday to see if/when she wanted to go. She said yes, but wanted to know how soon. Apparently she needs a new phone! HA!

We were trying to talk our mom into going with us, but she seems to want to rather stay home and keep my kids. “What?!?! You want to pass up a shopping trip with your daughters, so that you can stay home and keep a couple of pesky brats toddlers?!?!” To which she replied, “You two just want me to go so that I can be your pocket book!” Okay, so maybe she’s partially right.

Point is, I’m super stocked about spending time with my little sister before she grows totally up on me. Before long, the kid’s going to be graduating high school, getting married, and having kids of her own. Oh man! Saying that makes me want to lock her in her bedroom for the next 10 years!!!!