Sisters

Once a year my four sisters and I have the opportunity to get away together for a long weekend at Whistler B.C.  This is that weekend.  At this very moment I am sitting in front of  a window that opens onto gorgeous mountains and towering condos that overlook the Whistler Olympic Village. 

While the sun is streaming in right now, there have been moments of clouds and showers. But regardless of what the weather is doing, it is a time of relaxation and refreshment from the struggles of my everyday life...which seem to be rather intense at the moment.

Here's the thing.  There are five women staying in a two-bedroom condo.  We are different in many ways from one another.  Most are more liberal in their thinking than I am.  Some are way more athletic than me (although I did manage a 7.5 mile walk yesterday morning), and all of them choose red nail polish for their toes while I'm definitely a pink girl. But none of that matters.  Here's why.

Being family creates bonds like none other.  Sadly, for some, they are painful bonds.  But for my sisters and me, the ties we share are priceless treasures.  There are so many things that only the five of us understand.  There are silly sayings that have evolved over the years that send us into gales of laughter.  There are sweet memories of our childhood that only the five of us remember.  And there are shared sorrows and struggles that knit us even closer together.

So despite our different lives, for these four days each summer, my sisters and I get to be a family again. We shop, eat, talk, and laugh.  But most of all, we get to just be "girls" again...regardless of what the mirror might tell us!