Sisters by Kimberly Hermansen

In a world where there is so little we can count on, sisters are invaluable. Lovers come and go, best friends rise and fall, while sisters are forever. You fight with them, and they love you anyway. You tell them everything. They give you advice. No one gives advice like a sister. When you need to cry no one listens like a sister. When you want to look your best, no one looks better next to you than a sister. She’ll share her clothes, her hairbrush and shampoo. She’ll share her heart and love you more than anyone ever could. Talk to her every day. Talk to her once a week. Talk to her. The frequency or duration is irrelevant. Just knowing she’s there is all that matters. Her inexperience with your problem doesn’t mean her suggestions aren’t the best. They always are. Because it’s not experience that gives a person the ability to help direct another. It’s the everyday listening, the love and the desire to help that make her the best at seeing all the angles of any given situation. When you don’t want to be alone she will always be there, if only on the phone. When you have to hang up, she’ll wish you didn’t need to. You yell at her, she yells at you, and no one can understand how you know exactly why she’s upset, when she hasn’t even said. You know when you can call her on it, tell her to stop acting like a brat and you know when you simply need to hold her head and let her cry on your lap. And no one else can tell her to “knock it off” but you. And when you cry, you hope she’s there to hold you. And when you act like a brat, you hope you’re far from her so she doesn’t have to scold you. But if she’s there and she tells you the truth you know it’s only because she loves you. Your mother may not understand her, and your father may wonder what her problem is, but you know exactly what she’s thinking and not only that, you agree with her. She tells you of her lovers and you tell her of yours. Maybe neither knows much of love, but together you struggle and learn and share. Together you choose men your parents would be horrified about, but you know it’s a learning process and bad choices are how you learn. Sisters aren’t perfect people. You’re not perfect, she’s not perfect. But together you’re a perfect pair.