Sisters and Soul Mates

I have been on a kick this year, emailing/ texting old friends, as well as potential love interests, resulting in many conversations, with my sister, like the following...

Me:  But, Jessie, I don't know why he just didn't email me back!

Jessie:  Well, maybe he doesn't remember you...

Me:  How could he not remember me?  We had a special connection!!

Jessie:  Well, I know that, and you know that... But apparently, he does not know that.

That's my sister, giving a much-needed perspective change, since she was practically in the womb.

Many of us, as a society, seem to be captivated by the idea of soul mates, even if we don't believe in this idea wholeheartedly.  I don't know if there's one person for everyone.  The idea is certainly beautiful (Lord knows, I've been looking for mine since before my Sweet Sixteen!), but I'm not sure that there's one person we're supposed to spend the rest of our lives with.  (Often, I feel there could be more; most days, I struggle with the concept of even just finding one!)

in the airport, coming to NJ!

 But then again, I already do have a soul mate, my better half, my lobster.  And that's my sister, Jessie.  (Click here and here if the lobster reference is lost on you!) 

Jessie is only two and a half years younger than me, but it usually feels like she is the big sister, due to her wisdom, bravery, and outspoken nature.  In the cheesiest, Jerry Maguire way, (and I would hope to never say this about a man), she completes me.

When I am stressing out, panicking, flipping a scheiss (sorry, Mom) over something (being ditched at trick or treating, getting a tough note at play practice, teaching evaluations), she talks me down and helps me to think calmly about the situation in a rational, witty, often-hilarious way.

She is not afraid to get dirty in the name of a good cause (or just FUN), which is something I'm still learning from her.

We swap clothes, books, devotional suggestions...  We pray for each other, for each other's friends.

Years ago, when I experienced my first heartbreak and couldn't stop crying, shaking, screaming on my bed, she left the party she was at to come home and rub my back, tell me it would be okay, and stay with me until I fell asleep.  (<--  This is something that sure as hell was not pretty to live through or remember, but it is such a powerful image of love in my mind that I will never EVER forget it.)

She believes intensely, passionately in my dreams, which is why we've almost had fights when I bring up the words "back-up plan."  She doesn't want to hear that.  Of course I'll get married; of course I'll have kids.

I know it's not rational or safe to put so much faith in one person, to give them so much credit for coming to your rescue, time after time.  But the reality is that my sister is my better half.  I know that if I don't find the person I'm going to marry for years, I'll be okay.  That I don't even really have the right to complain.  I have had my soul mate beside me, fighting for (and with!) me, praying for me, making me laugh, holding my hand for 22 years.  I grew up with mine.