The Most Important Thing I've Learned From Sisterly Love
When people learn that I have five sisters, I have one reaction from men and a completely different reaction from women. The men send their condolences to my father and brothers, while the women unanimously exclaim, “some girls have all the luck!” I would have to agree with the women.
While my sisters and I may have curls and petite figures in common, we are far from cookie cutters. Each one of us have our own distinct and zesty personalities, sometimes a little too zesty.
To give you an idea, just picture six girls, one bathroom. I’m sure you can imagine the epic battles that took place, the tears, the threats, and the oaths of vengeance.
On the other hand, there was the whispered soul bearing after the lights were out, the honest answer when you needed it the most, and, best of all, the persistence to love each other despite the impossibility at times to understand one another at all.
Yet, through the friendships with my sisters that have grown over the years, I have also experienced an unbreakable connection that transforms mere understanding into shared experience and transcends forgiveness to the point of rebirth.
My sisters have shown me a kind of love that is courageous, warm, and fiercely protective. All this for no other reason than that we are sisters. And the most important thing it's taught me is that this love can be shared. I have come to see how easily sisterly love can thrive within all of our female friendships.
Sisterhood takes time and a little sweat, blood, and tears, but so does every kind of love.
Imagine if this sisterly love could be extended, even in its most basic form, to women we have less time to develop friendships with. It could be as simple as lending an empathetic ear to a friend, giving her the benefit of the doubt, or challenging those that might threaten her. Most of all we could persist in loving her, even when it feels like we don’t understand her at all.
What stories of sisterhood do you have to share?
Photo Credit: Belathée Photography
Monica Gabriel
