It is us against the world, we promised each other as we lay under the covers of our double bed whispering secrets and planning our extraordinary futures. We would live next door to each other and we would each have two girls and a boy. We had it all planned out.
As we grew up and into ourselves, friends flit in and out but we remained firm friends. Bound by our love of horses, our grumbling about dance practice and fiercely fantastical imaginations, our hopes and dreams were shaped in this furnace of a shared childhood.
We hugged in the yard and waved frantically into each other's classroom. It was cool to despise your sibling but we just couldn't.
And out of nowhere, our darling duo became a terrific trio. Our new little sister doll arrived just when we on the cusp of growing out of dolls. Her eyes, the exact same colour as mine, promised a future that would be intricately entangled.
Anyone with sisters will understand that there really is no love like it.
It is a complicated deliciousness of shared values, unconditional love and bottomless admiration. We fight generously and passionately, each aware that the other has an army of ammunition that could be deployed, but we usually choose not to. But any spark is shortlived, and no grudges are held — it is our sisterly right to fight and get over it — all before lunchtime.
It is a female relationship that elevates us. A mother guides us, we cherish our daughters but our sisters are other versions of ourselves. Our histories are entwined — our joys and sorrows shared. They know us like nobody else. The good, the bad and that time you drank too many shots on holidays.
Now, we are mothers, we are wives, we are employers, we have been touched by grief and divorce, shared happy celebrations and everything else in between. Yet it is still us against the world. I admire the people my sisters have become. I have watched them grow wiser, more responsible, more sensitive. I see their personalities sharpen, define and evolve as we continue to grow up together.
As for our plans… well, we don't live quite next door but mere minutes apart. And those of us with kids have two girls and a boy each. We still use our secret languages against our brothers to annoy them — proof that some things just stay the same.
And although I have a new surname, some new priorities and my own little family, I will always be proud to be called sister.
