Sister-Twin Powers—Activate!

My sister is almost 7 years older than I am, so, growing up, we were on different wavelengths. When she was experimenting with blue eyeshadow, designer jeans, and Tickle deodorant, I was still learning to tie shoes and string words together on a page. I was the annoying little sister, often in the way, usually getting more than my fair share of attention—definitely “spoiled.”

(Providentially, I had my own playmate next door who helped me through my markedly mild childhood trials. And she’s still a source of solace and inspiration!)

Coming into adulthood, my sister and I began to bond…or maybe we simply started discovering the bond that was already there, innately, almost eerily connecting us, even though we had experienced life a third of a generation apart. My freshman year at Big Scary State U., she sent me mail—not deep, soul-baring letters, just friendly notes telling me about her life as a young, married professional and asking how college was going. (That was a little while before email and a long while before texting.) Those letters were a lifeline to me in a lonely place.

She also sent me music, in the form of cassette tapes. Marvelous, melancholy jazz I’d never heard before, skillfully mixed with hip, upbeat metro tunes, and classical music—the “comfort food” of our family of origin. I played the tapes over and over again on my bright-yellow Sony Walkman while riding the bus between Big Scary U’s campuses. Listening, I felt less alone.

That was the start of our relationship as adult siblings. And, like I said, we’ve found out we’re more alike than we might have expected to turn out. Odd coincidences happen to us—things that seem like a Luke and Leia cosmic connection. Independent of one another, on different occasions, we have bought the same dress, the same shoes, the same wall calendar, the same Christmas cards (out of allll the designs on the market)! Once, a few years ago, I called her at work and got her voicemail. I listened in astonishment, acknowledging that, not only are our voices remarkably similar in sound, but also our word choice and phrasing—our v-mail “spiel”—was almost identical.

Last night, I realized another “Huh—weird!” correlation between my big sis and me: We’re both starting new jobs next week. Both are promotions, of sorts, and both are…well, pretty big deals (bigger visibility, bigger responsibilities, bigger paychecks). This is good stress, but it’s stress nonetheless, and it’s good to draw strength from my sibling-turned-lifelong friend:

Sister-Twin Powers—Activate!