One of the neat things I have failed, for years, to take notice of is special holidays throughout the year. Not the typical, highly recognized holidays… The wacky, silly, odd holidays that pop up randomly throughout each month.
April 10, for example, was National Sibling Day!
Did I celebrate this holiday? Sadly, no. I didn’t post a bunch of pictures of myself and my siblings on social media, and I didn’t call any of my siblings and wish them a happy holiday dedicated to us. That’s okay, though, neither did they. Ha!
I will, however, celebrate my siblings every day we have on this earth. We are a blessed bunch, and I am thankful every day for the three siblings I have (and the one we never got to meet). Allow me to introduce you:
Jacob; The oldest, self-proclaimed smartest, best looking man in the bunch. I guess I can give him that. He’s the only boy child. Served in the military, is an amazing chef (at his own stove and grill, or anyone else’s who will let him cook for them!), tall, quite country, and probably the most annoying of us all. Nah, I adore him! Of all my siblings, I believe we have the closest communication. I am 2 years younger than Jacob, and the “second set” of children were born over 10 years later. We were kids together, teenagers together, and we got to be the “experimental set” of kids together. (I love you Mom)
Oh, Jacob. The secrets you and I share, and will keep until the day we die…
Like, that one time… Ok, I’m kidding! I won’t tell!
When the younger set of DARLING girls came along, some of the rules changed. And I’m totally fine with that! Why? Because everyone grows and changes with time, and if my parents hadn’t then I would have been worried.
Leah; the little barbie doll, long legged and skinny to an alarming size at some times, we just knew she would be the tall one of the bunch! Well, what is it they say? “When you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans.” Right?! As a mother herself, now, she stands at a whopping 5’4”, and is still not the shortest person on the fire department in our county! That’s right. She’s a fire fighter! And an amazing one at that! She also paints, draws, crochets, and has quite the singing voice! OH, and her hair… blond locks that gracefully cascade nearly to her knees. Can you imagine tucking all that into a fireman’s helmet? Well, how about a ballcap! Because that’s what Leah is known to wear, daily, with every strand of hair hidden from view. The shock factor is priceless when she lets it down around people who have never seen her hair!
Between Leah and our youngest sister, my darling mother lost one. On Christmas day, no less. It was a sad day for us all, and one we will not soon forget.
Joanna; the baby. The angel, youngest, spoiled (almost) rotten, perfect child. Ok, so there’s slight sarcasm there… but only slight! We love to pick on her for being the youngest, because we’ve heard the saying, “The parents knew they made the perfect child when the youngest was born.” Thus, ending the need for more children. Well, in her toddler years, Joanna was FAR from perfect. I vividly recall the day of her birth! Standing in Mom’s room, at the far end of the hallway in the hospital, hearing the screams of a baby coming out of the nursery… we all sat there, looking at each other, afraid to ask, and then the screaming child was pushed in her bassinet into the room where we were sitting. Grandpa was the first to speak. “Well, I think we have the new family singer here.”
Joanna was known by the dirt on her face, the bouncy curls in her hair, and the dimpled cheeks that accommodated her always happy grins. Her favorite thing to do was run away from our house, down to the neighbors adjacent to us, our Godparents. We lived on a country road, so the panic that would ensue when she vanished silently from the house was always intense! Countless times she would be found on the lap of her godfather, riding the lawnmower, as he brought her back, and met us on the trail beside the road.
Now, this shining star of the family has graduated Bible College, married her dream man and has moved to Canada, where her husband is from. The irony is not lost on our family (again, making God laugh). Joanna is the ONE child we all believed would never leave home! She was truly the “baby” of the bunch for years! When she said she wanted to go to college in St Paul, MN I was shocked! She blossomed into one of the strongest people I know.
I couldn’t be prouder of the set of siblings I was blessed to be born into in my life! We have had our ups and downs, like all families. The ups definitely outweigh the downs! We have the most amazing parents! They did right by us throughout our entire lives, and I know they will continue to be our support and strength as we now go through the stages of parenting, they went through with us.
To my brother, Jacob: Look! I wrote about you in a blog post! You are welcome.
To my sister, Leah: You are still my hero! Now, hurry up and have a girl, for goodness sake!
To my sister, Joanna: I still think you are crazy for moving NORTH, of all places! Lawd Jesus! And… I’m still taller than you! Booyah!
Siblings. We love, fight, laugh, cry, hug, punch, push, and together we have become a 4-strand cord that cannot be broken. I am so thankful for you! Happy Sibling Day, every day!!!
