In all seriousness, sisters do make you happier. I found a few other articles online (but not the original one I read! Urgh!) and they all concurred that sisters positively contribute to the emotional health of a family (usually) and are (generally) the more encouraging members of the family. I particularly liked this quote from the link above: "the influence of girls was particularly important after distressing family events such as marital break-ups."
I am here today to raise my hand and say, "Yes! My sister was particularly important to me after the distressing family event such as a marital break-up... and move... and stressful semesters at university... and deaths... and my inability to find something in my messy room... etc." I vouch for this article because I have a sister whom I adore. And who makes me happy.
My sister is really like another part of me. I wouldn't be who I am today without her presence and influence in my life. When we were younger, sweet people at church couldn't tell us apart; granted, they only saw us once a week in mostly matching dresses. And, to be fair, Mom can't tell some of our baby pictures apart because she brilliantly put us in the same dress for our milestone baby pictures (one month, three months, one year, etc). However, despite the two year, two month, and four day age difference, I've always thought of my sister as my twin. We both had long, brown, curly hair growing up, though I would have mine pulled back in a side ponytail and hers were in two adorable high pigtails. We shared a room when our brother was born. I got my American Girl doll (Samantha) at the age of seven and she got her American Girl doll (Addy) at the age of seven. We both were fond of chocolate. It is obvious we belong together.
I feel like I must be honest and confess that there was a period of a few years where my sister and I did not make one another happy. In fact, she made my life miserable. And I think I bugged her because I tried my best to ignore her. Except she knew how to push my buttons! It irritated me that she knew me well enough to know exactly what to say to really infuriate me. It worked every time!
Thankfully, today we are the best of friends. Somewhere in high school (maybe a little before, maybe a little after) I decided she was okay after all. And it was a little hypocritical to go on mission trips in order to ostentatiously "love" the people when I couldn't even love my own sister. So I needed to change that and I am more than happy to report that I love my sister the most.
She is my twin.
She is my other half.
She is my opposite.
She is my friend.
She is my compliment.
She is my sister.
We express to one another in amazement, "It surprises me that we aren't the same person!" We are both very different people in our clothing tastes, our movie selections, the amount of TV watching, our opinion of people, our knowledge of coffee, our ability to cause long sessions of laughter, our hand-dancing-in-the-car skills, our sensitivity to the poking of collarbones, our work ethic, our intelligence areas, and more. My sister is one of the most hard-working people I know; even when everything seems to be against her, she will turn up her music and be-bop her way through difficult homework and rock her quizzes and tests. I've seen her work ethic most here at college, but I also remember the summer I didn't see her because she had two jobs and was constantly putting in hours. My sister is an individual and doesn't particularly desire to be a carbon-copy of anyone. She purposely pushes against the accepted practice in our family: she has a beautiful tattoo on her foot, she got her nose pierced, and she also pierced her upper ear. My family all had the "What are you doing?!" attitude going on, but I must say that my sister rocks the Esty fake-gauge earrings, the tattoo (someday to be plural), the creativity of hair dye, cuts, and bangs, and uber cute Blowfish shoes (though this last one we all support because her shoes are seriously adorable).
The whole reason behind this post is to celebrate her (obviously) because my amazing sister - my other complimenting half - worked SUPER hard and was chosen to be the McConn Business Development Manager for next year! My sister loves coffee (she's worked at Starbucks for years) and graciously addicted my mother and I to it. Needless to say, my sister knows her stuff and more than rocks the coffeehouse vibe. Her new position will help her achieve her dream (which is only one of many) of owning her own coffeeshop. I am so excited for her because I've watched her grow in her convictions, strength of character, and passions the last few years. I wish I could show you a picture of her when she is talking about coffee and business. Her eyes light up and she has this smile that I can immediately identify as "I really love this!"
I respect and admire my sister because life isn't easy for her. She's had more obstacles in life than I've had. But I love watching her grow!!! She's my twin, my sister, my other half, and so she makes different choices than I would. Sometimes I voice my opinions too readily, but I'm proud of her that she will easily disregard my opinions if she doesn't inherently agree with them and pursue the Truth on her own terms. I love watching her make progress, find answers, and continue searching. It's like watching a weird combination of myself, someone I feel responsible for (because I'm the older sister ... months of experience watching her as a baby to make sure she didn't fall down the stairs or bonk herself on the head with a Barbie just don't leave you - don't get offended!), and a complete stranger (because we're so different). Her choices affect me. My choices affect her. We have an intimate relationship and are bonded together by blood, living arrangements, friendship, and shared experiences. I really love my sister. I'm so glad she's mine.
And I'm really proud of her.
Congrats little sister!
[Photo of the celebratory cake I made her when I found out she got the position]
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