Give Your Sister Her Half of THIS!

A few years ago I read The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family. I was completely into the book and recommended it to several friends. Instead of being fascinated like I was, my friends (most of them) said they couldn't finish it. Hmmm. When I read it, I replaced all the Mitford sisters' names with me and my sisters' names to keep them in order, see. Perhaps you need five sisters and you need to be a woman to love the book? (Or not, since a book of the letters between the Mitford sisters has just been published.)

I was thinking about my sisters as I woke up this morning because I'm so excited to be with them this weekend. It's a reunion! I also thought about how the six of us were minor celebrities wherever we lived. People (especially older ladies) liked to see us together and divide us up into Looks Like Mom and Looks Like Dad groups. Sometimes older kids labeled us the way they would label members of a boy band. Even now, friends I grew up with want to know what all my sisters are doing. Without fail, these friends try to remember our names in order.

So, this post is a Guide to The Sisters. If my scanner was working this morning I would put an old photo here. Instead I'm adding a photo from Katy's 30th birthday celebration in early 2006.

1. Jennie - The Smart One (redhead on the far right). When I need a good book to read or advice on how to handle piano students or how to make Butternut Squash Soup, I call Jennie. All of us play the piano, but Jen has taken her talent to a whole different level. Hopefully she will start her own blog soon so I'll get to read her story-telling genius more often. It's probably not as fun as a live performance, though. (She does all the voices and mannerisms of every person we both know.)

2. Nicole (the brunette with bangs next to Jennie).

3. Katy - The Pretty One (brunette with the pink shirt on in the middle). We were all sitting on a bench in a church gym when I was in grade school and I heard more than one person comment that Katy was certainly the prettiest of the six girls. Katy is also the kindest person I know. She sees the best in everyone. Katy is a mother of five girls now and still she has time to encourage me (and I'm sure a lot of other people) and be a photographer and a piano teacher.

4. Allyn - The Domestic Goddess (brunette second from the left). Allyn is the perfect storm of our best ancestral genes. She can do anything (sew, knit, play the piano, cook, blah blah blah)! A few years ago we went fabric shopping together - she bought some Hawaiian prints and I bought some heavy, beautiful fabric. The next day we met at my parents' house and her kids were wearing shirts made of the Hawaiian-print fabric she bought the day before. My fabric is still in the closet. AND she's hilarious.

5. Melissa - The Funny One (redhead on the far left). Even our grandparents (on both sides) like Melissa the best because she can tell a story better than anyone - in person and on paper. And because she writes them letters. She's tall, funny, thoughtful. I'd be jealous if she didn't always tell me not to be jealous. Check out her hilarious blog http://www.maximumbrainjail.blogspot.com/.

6. Makenzie - The Charmed One (redhead hamming it up in front). Not the Bad TV Show kind of Charmed, but charmed because no matter how dangerous or bleak a situation might look, Makenzie will get through it unscathed. She used to skip instead of walk and snap her fingers if there was no noise. Whenever I find something fun to do (to do to do), I call Makenzie because I know she'll make it even better.

There you go! You'll notice I didn't label myself. I'm pretty sure I'm The Surly One. Somewhere in my Grandpa's vast collection of family photos there is one of a group of cousins sitting on Grandma & Grandpa's back porch making ice cream with Grandma. I am standing behind the screen door watching them and wearing a pretty dress, a scowl on my face, and holding a very big toy gun. Yikes.