my sister

I wish I had pictures, but I have none. I broke my camera on the first ride I went on. Twirling teacups that weren�t teacups but were some sort of alien helmet or some such thing. I believe that�s how I did it, either way the camera is R.I.P. (for those people flinching right now at the idea of breaking a camera�..I cracked the screen and so now the camera functions etc. are not visible.) My sister did her have camera with her and we did ask someone to take a group shot and she took a picture of Keith with her daughters, Leah and Rena. I�ll have to nag her to get her to email them to me. She said she would. When she does I�ll share. I already bought a new camera so never fear we will not be without pictures here long....



We (Rick, myself and my son) drove to Orlando Friday morning and met up with my sister, brother-in-law and two nieces. We had some idle small chitchat at the hotel and then drove to Islands of Adventure. We rode all of the rides, had some lunch and then rode some more rides. (we rode the Spiderman ride 3 times�.) My sister�s daughters were very quiet and after we all had met up at the hotel and my sister and I hugged each other tightly and said hello her daughters (later in their car while we followed behind to go to Islands of Adventure�said to her �Why did you hug her like you knewwwwww her foreeeeverrrr???� They just couldn�t quite grasp that that�s what sisters would do because they see each other every single day and just didn�t get that her and I were sisters because they think sisters live together and see each other daily I suppose. I thought this was a cute reaction for them to have.)



The day went by without incident and I honestly just had a good time being with my sister and her family. We laughed about old stories and it became very clear to me that my sister does not remember things the way I do, and that�s ok with me because we had entirely different experiences with our parents so why would she remember things the way I do? It just doesn�t matter to me anymore. I know what I know and I know what happened to me is not a figment of my imagination and perhaps she�s all the better for not having been treated the way I was. Besides, most things that happened took place after she left for college and she was no longer there. No wonder she doesn�t remember that stuff, she never saw it.



My nieces finally opened up later in the afternoon and did some talking about things while they had their first taste of �Dippin� Dots�. They�d never seen �Dippin� Dots� before so they were highly entertained and amazed. It was cute.



At one point we were talking about what our kids now have and how it was when we were kids. I had a time warp sort of feeling about it all and then I realized, �this is it�this is the moment whereby I realize I am OLD.� The moment when you are talking about your past to your siblings children�that is one that will make you feel old. These are kids that don�t know what �Threes Company� is. Kids that don�t know a world without TV�s in their room, microwaves, VCR�s, DVD players�. these things always existed�no?????�



My sister told us that one of her only memories from being a kid was the time we all went to Busch Gardens in Virginia (one of the only TWO vacations the family ever took�) and rode the water log jammer ride over and over again. We were getting off and running back through the line and getting back on�over and over and over again. Because it was rainy that day and so there were no lines but the attendants made us go back through the line in case anyone showed up and wanted a ride. So we rode and ran through the empty line and rode and ran�..I bet we rode that ride 15 to 20 times in a row�at least. I was glad to hear that was a good memory for her because it is for me too.



Being around my sister felt good, it felt like a small little gift of time. I believe she�s happy and really that�s all we can truly and honestly wish for and be glad for. We both saw some things no kids should see. I�m glad she can�t remember. Her husband can, he indicated to me through some conversation that he remembers how unreasonable my parents were towards me. (and that�s putting it kindly) It was actually nice to see him again too because he was a part of my life from the time I was 12 years old and on, so I�ve known him forever.



When it came time to say goodbye, I was ok with it. I had resigned myself prior to going that I was going to revel in the day, rejoice in the moment and not allow anything to ruin it. After we said our goodbyes and got in our car to leave, my son said to me �I hope you made it a �good� bye because you might not see her for another ten years or something.�



I hadn�t thought of it that way�but I think I had felt it that way all day. It�ll be one of those good memories for me and I hope it�s another one that her and I share.