Breaking Things Down

    My sister A.K.A. "The Utensils"  

  My sister and I are extremely close to each other.  When she moved away for college it was like losing a part of me.  I literally became depressed when she left and my mom tried to get me to see a doctor or counselor.  I was always surrounded by people, but without her there, I still felt alone.  Eventually I got used to the fact that she no longer lived down the hall from me, but it was definitely one of the most difficult transitions in my life.  We drifted apart from each other throughout her first years of college, but we have finally regained the friendship we once had.

  I can vividly remember being very young and sharing a room with her.  This was a time way before we had become best friends, when we were real sisters.  The kind who yelled, threw things, tattled, and fought with one another.  When we were both in trouble, though, we were given spankings and told to go to our room.  I think these were the times that built the foundation of our friendship.  For the 30 minutes to an hour we were being punished in our room, we had something in common...  we both HATED our parents.  When a kid gets into trouble and is sent to their room alone they just sit quietly and wait to get out of jail.  With both of us in lock-down at the same time, we just fueled each others fire.  It made us feel better to talk about how stupid our mom and dad were and how unfair they were being.  By the end of punishment we were playing together as though we hadn't even been in trouble in the first place.  We made each other forget about how mad we were by venting to each other.  Even if I was just calling my mom a "poo poo head."

  This is what my sister has done for me all of my life.  She takes things that seem overwhelming at the time, that you feel like you won't ever get over and she always helps me overcome those obstacles.  Imagine a huge piece of steak on your plate at dinner.  You can't wait to dig into it because it looks so juicy and tender, but wait...  you don't have any silverware.  Where would you even begin? Where's the bone?  Where's the fat?  Do you just pick it up and try to take a huge bite out?  I need silverware to help me break things up into smaller bites because if I don't, I might end up choking.

  My sister, Stacy, helps me break down life so it's not so overwhelming.  I think that's why I had so much trouble with her leaving.  It was as if life was coming at me all at once and I was trying to swallow everything whole.  She tries her hardest to keep from making messes in life and reminds me that I need to chew one piece at a time, so that I don't choke.

Back to setting the table... it's almost dinner time!