I’m resting peacefully in the after-glow of my sisters’ visits this last week. The occasion was my brother’s granddaughter’s wedding shower. As part of the hostess team, we provided the flowers and snacks. There’s nothing like baking and cooking in the same kitchen with your sisters, same with flower arranging! I’m surprised that any of the baking ingredients weren’t miss-measured with all the talking, laughing, and story telling woven into the recipes. I wished for our fourth sister who died several years ago now. She had the best belly laugh of all the Graham girls.

In the picture, we’re sporting t-shirts I found on line and the slogans fit us perfectly! Such words might be received as insults for others, but amongst us, these words emboldened us to share even more remembrances and examples of how they fit perfectly.

Catherine, the oldest, still keeps us in check with her organizational gifts. The whole extended family receives monthly newsletters announcing birthdays, graduations, jobs, weddings, births, moves, and any other important trivia. She is our family historian and the keeper of our gaffs, successes, dramas, and legacies. Thank you Catherine!

Rosemary, the middle one, can be counted on to have the just right quip or sarcastic comment to lighten any situation. The most creative of us all, she blesses us with her gracious hospitality every holiday gathering. Her home is exceptionally welcoming and charming. Nevertheless, she has had the reputation of having been a prankster through out our growing up years. Her shenanigans are light hearted, and she is the first to make a joke about herself. Her sharp humor hides a soft and tender heart. I can barely mention that I like something without it showing up on my doorstep at her next visit. Thank you Rosemary for keeping us laughing.

My other middle sister, Christine, who has since passed, is remembered as the most generous and giving sister. She also had the reputation as a trouble maker, but it was “good” trouble because she demanded justice for those whom she loved. Christine would give away her last dime if it brought a smile to someone else’s face. She was an artist and had the knack to see through people with an artist’s eye. She felt deeply and passionatley in all her relationships. Near her end, when she struggled to breathe, she would ask me to walk around my garden and facetime her, talking about the flowers and wanting to know what I was going to cook next from the vegetable and herb garden.

Oh, how I love my sisters!

Catherine brought each one of us a bookmark this trip. On it is inscribed a beautiful Pueblo saying: “To my sister…..like branches on a tree, we grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one. Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other.”

I’m humbled by and grateful for my sisters.

How do your family’s dynamics work?