I'm packing to go to the BEACH! It is time for the annual Sibling Weekend, tomorrow morning I am driving to Gadsden, AL to pick up one sistah, then to Atlanta to pick up another sistah and then we are driving like Mr. Toad to Charleston, SC to meet up with the other two sistahs. If you were counting, that makes four sistahs. And I fall right in the middle. What a great place to be--surrounded by amazing women. I guess I am spoiled.
We will, hopefully, sit on the beach. (Is it wrong to PRAY AGAINST the rain?) We will drink beer. We will talk about life and laugh a lot and rehash the last year of our lives and go out for dinner and play with the baby and with the boys. And then the spouses will show up on Friday afternoon for barbeque and more cool drinks and fireworks and extended family time.
The laundry isn't done yet, so I can't really pack. And I just put my bedsheets in the washer, so I can't go to bed until the whites are done. Great. I sure know how to plan.
We started this summer get-together 4 years ago. We got to a point at which we realized that we needed some time with the other siblings, so we would go invade Christi's apartment in Mount Pleasant. And it worked so well. We were sitting around the patio table one of those early nights, in love with the summer and with vacation and each other, and we said, "We will do this every year. No matter what it takes." We just need that time, and in some ways it is the highlight of our year.
We keep in good touch by phone, (well, some of us are better than others at that!) but there is something about the five of us together that produces laughter and vulnerability and communication and reflection. It gives us time to continue building these family relationships that we have, in significant ways, created and maintained through very difficult as well as very joyous times. Weddings, births, interpersonal conflict and misunderstandings, long drives to visit, seemingly everlasting phone conversations, sushi, porch moments, tears, hilarity, truth-telling, listening--these are what make us strong.
So, dear sisters, I thank God for you. For the sister I have had since I was four years old, and the sisters that came much later. Please know that my arms are always open. My phone is always on. The driving time to get to you is yours without regret.
"And if we lose our way any night or day
We'll always be where we should be
I'm there for you and I know you're there for me
We fight, we laugh, we cry
As the years go by"
See you tomorrow.