Tuesday, January 22, 2008

IN ME, SIS BLISS EXISTS

Call it pathetic, but when I have to play those charming “getting to know you” games at work or church events and am asked to come up with fact that no one knows and makes me unique I always seem to go with I am the oldest of five sisters. It’s very often unique and is an easy comment-illicitor. (And invariably the comment is “you’re poor dad!” And that’s what’s unique about it all—the people that say that simply do not know the truth. The truth is not “poor dad”; it’s “poor mom!” And I set them straight right quick.)

It is a dismal concept that the only factor I feel individualizes me is my siblings’ gender and where I fall in it all. But I’m not so sad about it. In fact, when I read or hear that someone has three or four sisters and they write or say it with an air of—nifty, eh? I got myself a truckload of sisters, I find myself finding them pitiable. But perhaps one of the Drury girls would say that about me and my pathetic five (only five!) sisters. In any case, my sissies are remarkable, and a quick run down of what strikes me today about these utterly individual people can help to elucidate why:

Whit: Today, I love her because she’s my big sister, but not really. I get to use her for life advice and cooking how tos. And since she’s a stay-at-home mom, bless her happy soul, she’s generally around to answer the phone when my loneliness in Reno is especially poignant. If I were to paint Whitney as a color, I’d paint her bright red, for red knocks you out with its boldness and looks good on everyone.

Kit: Today, I love her because she is so entertaining and is marvelous to talk with at lightening speeds about topics that passersby find comical yet incomprehensible. She is my fashion icon. She is beautiful. And she is not difficult. Are there foods Caitlyn doesn’t like? Sure, there are some eats she doesn’t prefer, but she’ll chow ‘em anyhow. Are there people that bug her? Sure, but she’s not going to say so or be demonstrative about it, and she’ll still spend time with those she finds distasteful and find good things to say about them later. If Caitlyn were a color, she’d be a sunny yellow, for when she walks in a room, she brings a light, and when you see a room swathed bright yellow, even if it’s not your favorite color, you simply cannot refrain from smiling.

Hay: Today, I love her because she’s a thinker. She thinks about her feelings and sometimes, and don’t try to figure out anatomically how this could work, but she feels with her head, reasoning out her feelings and making sense of them before pursuing their implications. She is studious in a way that’s not pretentious, and she is sweet to her core. If Haley were a color, I believe she’d be blue, for she’s color that looks good in people’s homes and is one that’s easy to like.

Mal: Today, I love her for what a unique person she is and how that makes her proud of herself. She knows she’s unique—she’s been told so her entire life—and she appears to like it. She’s private and a good example of how keeping some details to oneself can help to make a person mysterious and interesting in a way that makes you want to follow them down the street just to see which boutique they’ll enter first. If Mally were a color, to me, it would be brown—not for the way it looks, but for the way it’s made: many colors mixed together.

Lo: Today, I love her for her confidence and individuality. Lo knows she’s good. Good at dancing. Good at singing. Good at acting. She knows she’s good not because she’s been told, but because she’s sees what she thinks is good out in the world, measures herself up against it, finds that she’s lacking little, but still knows she can grow. She’s an individual in that she had five sisters before her and she didn’t choose to become a little Megan, a little Whitney, a little Caitlyn, Haley, or Mallory, she chose to become a Lauren. If chose a color for Lauren it’d be white, for with a drop of dye, white can become other colors quickly a beautifully.

1 comment:

Mal Robin said...

That was beautiful megan! Your the best sister! Im not kidding, i wouldnt trade you for the world. Im glad Im brown, i never thought of the way you said it, i like to be alot of colors! Thanks for being amazing and sweet!
Mally