Really four, but that messes with the headline and I think this applies to my sisters mostly
The sisters in question? Angel, Susan, and April, who came to visit my wife and I for a few days recently.
They came to us from the east (two from north of Toronto and one from Ottawa) though they did not follow a star, but they did come bearing gifts. They flew out for the occasion of my son’s wedding.
It is always fun and stressful to host family for more than a few hours. Sure, we grew up together, but as the oldest I moved away first and they after, and so while we continue to stay in close touch and visit, they are not the same as when we were children, and neither am I.
This is a good thing, but it also makes visits fraught with the unknown. How do we keep such big city urbanites entertained in the rural landscape of Manitoba, I wondered.
Well, let’s see. We can bring them to the local pub. Excellent. There are art galleries, parks, hiking, thrifting (they love to thrift) …hmmm…what else? Drive the endless flat prairie and remark at how big our unobstructed sky is?
“Do you guys like Winners?”
“ABSOLUTELY!”
Great – we spend an hour in Winners.
Then there was the obligatory visit to my daughter’s home and my son’s home to boast of success and continued well-being amongst the progeny.
Of course, while they were visiting the temperature dipped to 16 degrees in Manitoba on the same day it was 31 degrees in Toronto. This makes the sales pitch on why they should move here difficult.
“But it’s a dry cold” only works so many times.
Of course, the main event consumed most of a day. A beautiful wedding in the sunshine along the banks of the Red River enjoyed by all. Many thousands of photos were snapped for posterity.
The evenings were filled with long conversations about past torments as children.
“Remember when you used to hide under Angel’s bed and grab her ankles at night?”
“Yes, some of my best moments.”
“Remember when you used to sit on our heads and fart?”
“Absolutely. A classic.”
Memories are shared. Children are compared and boasted over, jobs are complained about, pets are discussed at length, wine is drunk, and meals together are enjoyed.
We chat about how fortunate we are that we continue to love each other and not argue and fight unlike every other family of siblings we know.
Then before you know it the visit is over, and we are driving them to the airport shocked at how quickly things have gone by.
We hug, we say our goodbyes, we commit to not taking too long to visit one-another again by waiting for weddings and funerals, and then, as quickly as it began, they are gone.
The drive back from the airport to home is pensive. I wonder at how quickly time has gone by and how it seems to be accelerating.
I am grateful for siblings. Grateful for a common history that gives us each a unique understanding into one-another that no one else can have.
We are aware of how fortunate we are to have each other.
