Sisters by Chance, Friends by Choice

You can’t pick your family; you get stuck with whomever fate would like to put you with. Even if you don’t believe in fate or a God, you still don’t get the option of choosing what kind of family you’re born into or the type of brother or sister comes out of your mommy’s tummy. Unfortunately life just does not work like that. You have to put up with the family you’re given and don’t throw a fit about it. You may not like your family but they do so much for you that you don’t even realize it until it’s too late. Families will fight and the storm might get pretty nasty; but that’s human nature. In every storm, there’s always something beautiful that comes out of it. You just have to stick around long enough to see it for yourself.

To give you a little back ground information, I am the second daughter out of four girls. I've lived with both of my biological parents and sisters my whole life. This blog post is written in the perspective of a middle child who doesn't have a split family. I’m not saying all families are like this and I am not speaking for any other type of families. I feel as if I have no right in doing so seeing as I did not grow up in those types of conditions.

As a kid, I was obviously jealous of my little sisters when they were born because I was no longer the baby of the family. This is a natural phase that all older siblings go through. They don’t like the fact that this little person just shows up and attracts all the attention they once had. As they get older however, they begin to like having a little sister around. She’s someone you can use as a scapegoat so you don’t get into trouble. She’s the guinea pig for all the scary stuff you’re afraid to do; like unplugging the drain in the bathtub to make sure you don’t get sucked down under. She’s the person who volunteers to play the bag guy, just to make sure you’ll play with her and not exclude her for not cooperating. She’s also the girl you’ll go to when you have a problem that you don’t feel courageous enough to tell your parents about. You’re sisters by chance, but friends by choice.

Fighting with sisters can get pretty ugly, especially in their teen years. Girls tend to fight more with words than with fists; so when I say ugly I don’t mean bloody lip or blackened eye. I mean more of calling her the B word and saying “I hate you and never want to speak to you again,” kind of thing. Just remember ladies, you may be ridiculously mad at her for whatever she did or didn't do, but she’s your sister and at the end of the day nothing else really matters. She could die unexpectedly the next day and you wouldn't want to have the last thing you said to her be the nasty words of I hate you. Life is short and you must find a way to make the best out of a bad situation.

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