Sister wives

My sister was born when I was eleven. I remember being insanely excited by the thought of a sibling, and then insanely jealous of the endless attention a baby requires.  I wasn't much for play as a pre-teen and was pretty content to stay locked in my room or at friends houses. It certainly wasn't her fault, or my younger brothers that I was so steadfast to leave home.  I left for college at the tender age of sixteen. Kayla was five and Jacob three.  I barely saw them through those hazy four years. (Thats another entry)
I got married in college, which later proved to be a major learning lesson. I learned a lot though being someones wife.  Having to think and care for and about another human being as much, maybe more than myself. After college he and I moved up to the panhandle of the gulf coast.  Desperate unemployed college students, we begrudgingly took an extremely kind offer from his parents to rent their beautiful "nearly" beach house for next to nothing.  I’m certain they could have rented it for four times as much as we paid. It was an easy breezy summer, working our part time jobs, and enjoying the life of retirees.  A life we did not earn, and a life I did not want. After moving back nearer to my family I quickly became exasperated for more meaning in my life.  I joined the Army in 2009 and that led me far far away where I still didn't get to know my siblings very well.

 Whenever I would come home I began to take the time to get to know Kayla. The older I got the more I realized she was like me in many ways; rebellious and hot tempered, I tried to be someone she could talk to.  It was really hard though with my visits being short and infrequent.  Kayla taught me things without even realizing it.  She taught me that hard work can really take you far.  She was an excellent student and gave 110% to her studies.  She was kind and forgiving. She wasn’t interested in dating and gaining material possessions.  She cared about her purpose, her relationships, her animals. She wanted to know and understand the world deeply.

When my son was born Kayla was thrilled to become an aunt, but at five months old I took that nephew of hers across the globe to South Korea. When Jaxon was 2.5 years-old we moved back around the world to Florida because Thomas had been stationed in Honduras for a year.  We moved in with my sister, and instantly she became my best-friend.  She was honest, and supportive.  She stepped in to love and nurture my terrible toddler with as much gusto as I gave being his mother.  She never ditched us to party with friends or hang with a boy.  She was just present in a way I couldn’t have survived without.

We became like sister wives doing each others hair and giving back rubs while we binge watched Grey's Anatomy. We took turns dealing with the little monster trying to crush my spirit “who I love” lol. Who both cooked, and cleaned, and went grocery shopping together.  Ok, ok, mostly I did those things, but she helped dang it. She babysat countless hours without ever asking to be paid, she walked my dog, and let me talk her ear off. If I could I might just want to be sister wives, because I miss her everyday.  I wish she was there when i went to bed, and when I woke up.  I love my husband but he just doesn’t get me like my sister and I love my friends but no one compares.

XOXO- Love you most