As a child, there is no statement met with more disbelief and contempt than those beginning with the words ‘one day’. Sentences such as “one day you’ll like tomatoes,” or “one day you’ll like taking showers” uttered by your parents was equivalent to them exclaiming that piano lessons were fun and the sky was yellow.
But for me, the most unbelievable of all those “one day’s” was what my mom would tell me each time I complained about my younger sister, McKenna:
“One day, you and your sister are going to be best friends.”
My younger self always scoffed and thought “no way, mom! That’s NEVER going to happen.” McKenna was the absolute bane of my existence, mostly because everything I did served as fuel for “copycatting”. She lived and breathed to be my shadow, following me around and attempting to do everything exactly like me.
For years I complained to my parents, and for years they responded with the same unbelievable statement: we would be friends one day. “Never!” my younger self would say.
But as we ventured into teenage-hood, my little shadow began to fade as we each found our own sense of style and taste in music. McKenna discovered hip-hop/rap music and “designer” clothing (meaning, mom actually gave her Walmart clothes in Hollister gift boxes for Christmas and her birthday… ), and I made band t-shirts and pony-tailed hair my uniform, complete with “walkman” playing my latest hard rock/metal cd. My embarrassment about revealing these terrible fashion and music choices is eclipsed only by how completely opposite my sister and I were at the time. While she no longer attempted to replicate my every move, the two of us could not imagine ever having anything in common, given our current tastes.
Luckily, those years of terrible style and music choices didn’t last long and eventually my sister and I found ourselves pursuing a mutual appreciation for Indie music and cute vintage clothing.
All I can say is “Praise the Lawd.”
So, at this point, you’re thinking “ok, that was a nice little preface about you and your sister’s childhood. What is the point behind this tale of your nuisance of a sister and your upbringing?
The point is that my mom was actually right. About all of it.
I do like tomatoes, and I am rather fond of taking showers and personal hygiene.
And most importantly, McKenna and I did “one day” become best friends.
While we went our separate ways during our teenage years and we still enjoy our own pursuits (let’s just talk about the fact that she wants to be a doctor for a second. First, gross…. blood and things. Second, my sister is the coolest!), McKenna and I have become very close.
I think a lot of this is because of the adoring and heartfelt person she has become. She has a talent for inspiring confidence and happiness in others, and has a heart capable of encompassing every life she touches. Her love for children is perhaps one of the sweetest things I have seen in this life, perhaps second only to the number of tears she shed when the litter of puppies she helped raised last year were adopted by their new families (her instagram feed circa October 2015 is testament to this).
If you can count McKenna as a friend, you have been given a gift. If you can count her as your sister, you have an incomparable and irreplaceable treasure.
I’m just happy I realized this in time to share the many adventures we have had together in our short years on this planet. I hope there are many more to come!
“For there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands”
― Christina Rossetti
Luh you Ken!
Yours,
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