Sisters, Nieces and Friends

Those of you who blog, probably remember waiting for your first comment to hit. The computer keyboard has been hot with my continued trips to my blog to see if my first comment has appeared, and if so, who it was from. Well, my first was from my niece and my second from her mother.

It is strange how relationship change through the years. There are 4 years between my sister and me. We have always been friends primarily because we moved around a great deal during our youth and we always knew we could rely on each other. Secondly, we both liked to play the same things. Church and school were probably our favorites and we usually had plenty of doll babies and stuffed animals to fill the pews or the school desks.

Coming in a close third would be house. That became an all time favorite when our brother was born when I was 9. He was always our baby and we would dress him up in the clothes of our life size "three year old dolls". His poor little feet would be crammed into those hard plastic shoes and then we would push him up and down the sidewalk in our doll stroller. Dinner would be cooked on the stove that we had made out of a card board box with burners and nobs drawn on with markers. Another box was the refrigerator and another was out cabinet. Mama would save us empty boxes from the pantry to use as our food stash and we usually had a teacup set and table and chairs to finish off the kitchen. We would spend hours and never thought to ask for a "real" kitchen set.

As we entered out teens, we still stayed friends although as our outside friendships developed we tended to drift apart just a little. Part of that was due to sharing a room and to the fact that she was a clean freak and I most certainly wasn't. Then I married and left home at the age of 18. About 5 years later, she started her family and as we began to have things in common again, we began to rely on each other for advice and fun. We weren't together often during the first years of our adult lives but about 10 years ago things changed when we both ended up in North Carolina. Now, we are just about separable. If we don't see each other as often as we would like we do burn up the phone lines.

My sister gave me my first niece. She was and is a beautiful young lady. I've always been Aunt Joycey to her and I loved every minute of it. I'm still Aunt Joycey to her today but now that she is an adult, a very faithful Christian, a wonderful wife and a marvelous mother of two, we also are now friends. We do not talk often, but when we do, I know that she will always be there for me and she knows the same of me.

Having them give the first comments to my blog is only as it should be. My sister, my niece, my friends. May God bless them both as fully as they have blessed my life. I love you both.


Sisters, Nieces and Friends

The first true girlfriend God gives you in life
Is probably your sister at birth,
Whether you were born as second in line
Or if you were presented as first.

As you grew through the years and shared every day
Of the lives you were blessed to pursue,
It didn’t matter if you’d fought at day break
By evening you were best friends, you two.

Then adulthood you entered more quickly than thought
You would share many milestones and goals.
You shared honors together, you held her first child,
You cried tears when you shared weary souls.

Then if you were truly blessed with one more female gift
You were given a niece one sweet day.
As she grew and grew and too became a Mom
She was also a friend on life’s way.

As you walk through this life from one day to the next
You will make many friends day by day.
There are none any closer than those you are given
Through the ties of your family tree’s sway.

Joyce Smith aka Mimmy
May 8, 2009 ©