Good Morning and HAPPY FRIDAY!
Growing up in a big family is FUN. I'm the fourth from the top in a family of eight kids. I've got two brothers and five sisters.
I love having so many sisters (my brothers are awesome, too!). In our family, if someone was mad at you, there was always someone else who had your back. Alliances were formed on the regular and while mostly civil, if intense arguments did ensue over stolen underwear or ripping the tags off unworn clothing (big time NO NO), and things turned UG-LY, you could still find a shoulder to whine on... whether you were the thief or the victim.
When it came to clothing being shared among the six of us, here were a few general rules:
If my sister said "Oh, I love your top" I could never respond with "Thank you."
No, no.
The unspoken expectation was that I must divulge all relevant details about said top including, but not limited to, location of purchase, date buying occurred, size, and price (including tax). And if for some reason the information was not readily given, it would be promptly requested.
What's yours is mine only applies to items that have been worn previously and only if the owner has given permission. You don't ever, under any circumstances, take an item of clothing that still has tags. I would take a gander that about 95% of the arguments that took place between me and any given sister was over clothes.
At one point my dad (bless him) even said "That's IT! No one is allowed to borrow anything from anyone." We all had great respect for my dad but when he threw that out there, I'm fairly certain our response was something like "Good one, Dad." Not gonna happen. But I do admire him for trying to tear us out of each others closets.
If an article of clothing went missing, anything you said or did could and would be used against you in a court of Dad. And as soon as you left the house, a search without a warrant was permitted. Can't tell you how many times I found my clothes stuffed under someones bed or in between their mattress even. The lengths we go to save face... and to look cute.
As we got older and people started moving out, the clothes sharing got less and less. Even to this day, when I go to my sister's houses, one of the first things I want to do is go look in their closets. Old habits die hard, y'all.
Now that we're all moved out and can't blame each other for taking something we can't seem to find, our friendship has gotten even sweeter. I have five built in best friends that would literally drop everything to be there for me.
And they have.
My sisters could poke fun at me all day long but if they find out someone is throwing shade my way, the gloves come off and it's GO TIME. Hell hath no fury like an older sister protecting her baby sister. And nothing warmed my heart quite like hearing my sister tear someone to shreds on my behalf. Figuratively speaking, of course.
Now that I have two girls, I pray every single day that God would cultivate a sweet friendship between them because I know how amazing it is to have sisters as friends.
I'm thrilled to watch my girls grow up together and I hope as they do, they'll learn to see the value in one another.
Each of my sisters has strengths that I admire and want to emulate and they will probably never fully understand how much I admire them.
So Karen, Lia, Kristen, Valerie, and Anna... I LOVE YOU!
Thanks for reading, dear friend!
Hope you have the best weekend!
Love, Laura
