I am the oldest of four girls. Growing up with sisters changes you in a way that you don’t know is strange until you leave to go out into the world. The relationship I have with my sisters is straight up weird and I love every second of it. I know that any of them will always be there for me whenever I need anything at all. They are both a blessing and a curse, but one that I would willingly accept every single time. The genetic makeup and the odd habits that create our sisterhood is wonderful and one that makes for an incredible adventure. Here is the bread and butter to what makes our sisterly relationship so wonderful.
1. Personal Space is Optional and Limited
I’m going to repeat this. OPTIONAL and LIMITED. Having three younger sisters, I value my personal space, but it is never guaranteed. As children, we spent all of our time together doing things that children do. Sure, we fought as all siblings do, but for some miraculous reason we all still get along. I would say that we more than tolerate each other, we possibly even love each other. Spending all that time together, you would think that we would not like hanging out, but that could not be further from the truth. In regards to my youngest sister, number 4, she is always laying all over me when I am home. It does not matter that she is a tall basketball monster child, she always lays on me and I love it even though I claim not to.
2. Singing Happens
Oh boy, does singing happen at my house, in the yard, in the car, at the store or any and every public place imaginable. We love to sing… not well, but we sing. We don’t even always sing real songs. In fact, they are made up songs 97.6 percent of the time. This is my dad’s fault. Thanks dad for your musical genes. The rest of the world, however, does not thank you. With singing usually comes dancing. Especially dancing by the two younger sisters. On more than one occasion sisters 3 and 4 have prepared a choreographed dance to a Beyoncé song and presented it to the household. This dance involved rip-off pants of course.
3. Grudges
Girls are strange. Sometimes we can’t remember what we ate for breakfast or the color we painted our toenails, but I can and will remember that you went through my dresser and borrowed my shirt without my permission 10 years ago. Sister number 2, I remember that book cover you accidentally tore off. I remember.
4. Inside jokes
I have spent many years around my sisters. We have spent thousands upon thousands of hours together. I have seen them when they are tired, hangry, sad and ridiculously happy. We know each other and have tons of stories. There is no way that we could not have jokes and stories that are just between us. In this aspect, we all have a best friend relationship because we don’t even need to speak out loud anymore. We can all look at each other and remember that one time and burst into laughter. I cherish this part of our relationship more than anything else because we care enough to have longstanding stories.
5. Food is NEVER safe
The one thing that will probably destroy our relationships as sisters is someone will eat a box of oreos that was clearly labeled for someone else. Eating someone else’s food is a serious offense and is punishable under Hubbell law. Threatening notes written in black sharpie mean business. To eat another sister’s food is basically treason. What can I say? We like to eat.
6. I am allowed to fight with my sisters and no one else
Don’t mess with my sisters. Do not call them mean names or pick on them in the hallway at school. This is my job and only MY job. As sisters, it is our God given right to pick on each other because besides ourselves, there is no one else that we know better. Yes, our God given right. Which means that no one outside of us can beat on each other. Thank you and have a good day, unless you are a jerk that is mean to my sister.
7. Playing pretend doesn’t end in childhood
When we were little, I am positive that our imagination was limitless.When we decided to play together, we would create whole towns and sit for hours and make up lives with our barbies. The dining room table hosted many stuffed animal tea parties (by tea I mean cherry kool-aid) and the trampoline was our safe haven. The trampoline was a place where we could talk about our lives or aggressively play a game of crack the egg. Now that we are older we don’t play with toys anymore, but that doesn’t mean our good times have come to an end. We still play a mean game of Uno and Monopoly. Our imagination is still there, now it just appears in forms that involve speaking in obnoxious British accents for weeks or being silly around the campfire. What matters most is that we are creating memories together.
8. Laughter
The Hubbell sisters are gals that love to giggle. When I say giggle, I mean heartily laugh and when I say heartily laugh that could also mean cackle. This is an asset that we bring to every relationship we enter. Laughter is an important part to who we are as a family. If we can’t laugh about something, then is it really worth our time?
9. Inappropriateness is encouraged
We are human. We make mistakes and we are most definitely not perfect. With that in mind, unless you really want to know why we are giggling do not approach. There are many moments over the years that I have deemed reality television worthy. We love to do stupid things and we often say things that should be kept to ourselves. As the oldest sister, I do my best to document all of these moments. For example, sometimes we think it appropriate to tip a waiter based on “da booty”. Is that appropriate? No.
10. Unconditional love and acceptance
When I am with my sisters I never feel out of place or judged. When I am with them is one of the few times that I know I can be myself without any fear. They are my rocks and I live for their happiness. It might seem strange to others that I talk to them every day, but that is what you do when you find your people. I am fortunate enough that I didn’t have to look far to find my people, my mom birthed them for me.
