I had a baby shower recently. My sister did a really lovely speech during it that I thought I would share. Here is part one.
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| My sister with Toddler T when he was a wee one. |
Sisters!
Having a sister is like having a best friend you can’t get rid of. You know whatever you do, they’ll still be there. ~Amy Li
Hi I’m Katrina Caitlin’s oldest sister!!!!
Well at least I always thought I should have been the oldest sister.
I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones. ~Author unknown
Let me tell you about my oldest sister Caitlin. She was always getting in the way, taking some of the attention. Bossing me around.
Yes, admittedly she taught me lots of useful life skills.
Like how to hold the guinea pigs
Like blowing bubbles in my drink
Writing on walls
Picking all Dad’s carrots out of the vegie patch!
And climbing the Cupboard that held the Christmas presents.
More than Santa Claus, your sister knows when you’ve been bad and good. ~Linda Sunshine
The Christmas Present Cupboard wasn’t all she snooped in. She was always reading my diary and would even write a message back at me in my diary starting an argument – in my very own diary!
Things didn’t always go to plan.
I still remember the day that she was helping me escape from the cot and she tipped the whole thing over on top of us both.
The last I remember was waking up to an ambulance officer standing over me and then I had to get my chin stitched up. Apparently she knocked herself out too! Mum wasn’t too impressed.
If you don’t understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child. ~Linda Sunshine
Alas the years of fun and games began.
We were the best of friends and the best of foes all at the same time.
When it suited us we got on very well. But truth is it just didn’t suit us all the time!
Dad used to say, you two need to learn to get on. Your sister will be the best friend you will ever have!
I remember she used to get so jealous of me some days. Why does Katrina get to go to bed at the same time as me or why does Katrina get this or that too….
It was always easy to get a bite out of her on these days!
The years seemed to fly by so quickly and soon we were teenagers.
My sister used to hate me coming up to her in high-school and talking to her when she was with her friends. So much so I used to seek her out – after all aren’t we meant to be best friends for life? Well so Dad says anyway.
She used to pretend she didn’t know me on the school bus and I used to annoy her by talking to all her friends!
We attended youth group together and some days we got on really well and other days I used to annoy and embarrass her. We seemed to be always competing with each other.
Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship. ~Margaret Mead
In fact our whole life seemed to be competitive…
She learnt to ride her push bike – so I got Dad to take my training wheels off and took off.
She finally got her driver’s licence after a delayed start, a couple of failed tests and being a very nervous driver. And so it happened that the government changed the law and the day I turned 16 ½. I went straight in and got my learners and licence 6 months later. Now we had to share the car!
Boys – she got a boyfriend and suddenly a very nice young man begins to take me out as well!
You guessed it. The Weddings came. She was married in January 1998 and I was married in September the same year. ( I wasn’t allowed to marry a day sooner either because my parents made me wait to give Caitlin a chance – not to mention give their bank balance a chance.)
This is when Dad’s prophesy actually started to eventuate. We enjoyed a friendship once we were married.
After a few years of married bliss my sister began to desire to start a family.
Then suddenly out of the blue the shock announcement happens!
I was expecting my first baby….
But it was now apparent the “Pain of infertility” was my sister and her husband allotment. That was followed by the pain of a miscarriage. My preganancy only inflicted more hurt on my sister and only emphasised the pain she was feeling. It didn’t help that she miscarried twice during my pregnancy with my first born. Suddenly all the years of competing and sibling rivalry were not important, suddenly I wished that my sister could experience the same joy as me. I think this is the one area that we were never competing yet somehow, strangely it seemed like I was the winner and she was the loser.
At first my sister didn’t know how she could love my child but once my little girl Emily was born neither of us can imagine how she couldn’t love her little niece.
Keep reading for Part 2
2 Comments
So sweet and true!
This speech was lovely.