My sisters know me better than anybody on this earth. They've been there to see what triggers my hardest laughs, exactly what to say to make me cry, and know all the stupid things I've done that mom has yet to find out about. Having this consistent companionship growing up has been such a blessing because I know that whatever kind of struggle I am dealing with, I have a confidant a wall, or facetime call away.
But sometimes girls aren't so sweet. Many hours have been spent arguing overtaking each other's clothes, eating someone's leftovers or just making an unnecessary comment after a long day at school. From what I've heard, brothers can be pretty aggressive, but it's nothing like the psychological warfare sisters can play.
For example, every summer and Christmas, we traveled from Houston to Jupiter, Florida, where my mom's parents lived and fortunately had a house five minutes from the beach. One afternoon in June of 2009 while lounging on Juno Beach, I found a twine necklace in the sand that was braided and wrapped with rainbow beads. And as a young girl, this discovery had me feeling like Princess Ariel, but that very quickly ended when I put it around my neck and my middle sister, Colleen, yelled out, "Doesn't that mean you're gay?" I didn't know what that meant, but I didn't appreciate her negative tone, so I instinctively got very defensive. She then proceeded to spend the rest of the beach trip convincing me that if I liked rainbows, I must like girls. I was nine.
Now that we are adults and can look back on those times, we laugh about the ridiculous things we put each other through. It was the roughest arguments that strengthened our relationship the most because of the respect we gained for one another after working through our disagreements. We didn't have any other choice other than toughing it out, and with that kind of history I have full confidence that I can approach them with any trouble I have, and they will help me out in a way that works best for me.
