Sister Sister

sister1

On Saturday, my little sister left for a study abroad stint in Mumbai India. Even though we haven't lived in the same city for years now, somehow her being across the globe makes me miss her way more, and in the wake of her painful absence, I thought I'd do a piece on why she means so much to me.If you've ever talked to me for at least an hour, you know at least one thing about my little sister. She comes up in conversation inevitably for me because she's literally my favorite person and I'm so freaking proud of everything she does.

Mushiness aside, my sister is three and a half years younger than me, and for years we had a typical sibling relationship where we would get along fine one minute and then we'd be at each other's throats the next. However, I do admit that most of these fights were probably my fault, I was a rather unpleasant child...and some would argue a still unpleasant adult. BUT, somewhere along the line, right around when I started high school, something clicked and we became super close.

If you've met us both, you know that from the outside we almost couldn't be more different. She has short hair, I prefer long. She likes color, I like black. She is as gay as they come, and I am straight as an arrow. She likes art, drawing, creating, and I prefer numbers, lists, and executing (plans, not people). She's a socialist, and I'm a capitalist. This obviously boils us down to a bit of an extreme but for most people who aren't close to us, they really can't see how we could ever be related.

But when you scratch the surface just a little bit, you find that we have an uncommonly close relationship.The fact of the matter is, when people are around us, they've said our interactions are like watching a tennis match. Kiki and are able to converse so fast, using references, shared experiences, and our intense familiarity with the other's personality to have conversations and make jokes at such sharp speed it can be jarring for others who haven't experienced it. There's much less of that 'how is life?' small talk that I see from so many other families. We always jump into dissecting some ultra-specific topic, from big ideas to small, right away.

She is the only person who I can call when I am absolutely sobbing and end a 10-minute call with a smile on my face. She is the only one who will sing along with me to any and every Disney/DreamWorks song. She is the only one who's opinion I crave but also don't feel the pressure to take her advice. She's the only person I tell pretty much everything to, and she's the only person I'd bury a body for, or call to help me bury a body.

It's tough to describe, but what I'm trying to say is that there is no level of formality between us. When I've watched other siblings interact, there is sometimes a wall there. They don't talk about certain topics, or they find too many aspects of their sibling annoying, or whatever. But with me and Kiki, it is completely transparent. Of course, we rag on each other incessantly, but when it comes down to it, we are each other's best friends and I know not everyone feels that way about their sibling.I'm probably just super sad she's left North America for the next couple weeks, and bitter she finally made it to a country I haven't been to, but my relationship with my sister is something I'm super proud of. I love that we're close, and I love talking about her, and I hope if you're not close with your own siblings, there is a hell of a good reason because you are missing out.