On facebook, my brother and sister asked me what my favorite memory of them was when we were growing up. Here is my answer, written down for posterity:
Funnily enough, my fondest memory of both of you, is of both of you together.
Remember how we celebrated Christmas in Ethiopia? Gathered around our Christmas branches? Mom and dad had always secreted away presents that they had bought the summer before.
I think the first year I went to RVA I came back from Kenya with Christmas gifts for everybody, so there was a nice pile under the Christmas tree. You two decided you wanted to join in the fun and got all secretive. Pretty soon the pile started growing, with a mismatch of presents wrapped in all kinds of paper.
I remember opening the presents and feeling such a surge of love for you two. You had wrapped up your own teddy bears and other personal items and given them to us. It was so sweet!
The next year I was blessed with the gift of a silver ring, picked out personally by one or both of you. It was a silver filigree ring with a flower on top. It was truly ugly! But I don't think I ever let you know that. I still have that ring by the way. The fact that is was given to me by you two makes me hang on to it :-).
Although we grew up together, I don't have a lot of memories of you. I'm so glad I have gotten so many more memories over the last years! It's been such a pleasure getting to know you both as adults and becoming friends with both of you.
Love you!!
p.s. does my memory serve me correctly, or do you two have different memories of what I just wrote down?
Sister
Lise, my sister, asked me when I would start writing on my blog again, instead of posting pictures. I replied that I didn't know what to write about so she suggested I write about the fights we used to have. So all that I write here is not my fault, it's hers!
Lise and I have an interesting history. Though I am the oldest, she was the fighter, and paved the way in a lot of things. She had fights with my parents, she had a boyfriend before I did, she went out before I did, she did a lot of stuff before I did!
I think a certain amount of competitiveness was there at an early age.
She drove me up the wall, regularly, when we were small. I remember learning how to count to ten before I lost my temper purely because she would make me so mad I would want to rip out my hair, or hers! The last time I lost my temper with her was when I was fourteen. We were watching Little House on the Prairie. It was summer time and our days were planned around watching Little House on the Prairie (I wept when the programming changed and it didn't show anymore). We settled down in front of the tv and got into an argument about who got to sit where. I ended up sitting in front of her at which point she started to nudge me. Again, and again, and again and again.... Like a dripping tap, you know the feeling! So I asked her to stop, several times (at this point Lise may have a different version of this story :-)). When she didn't, I totally lost it. I turned on her and beat her up and then left the room slamming the door so hard behind me it caught on my heel. I ended up weeping tears of frustration while cooling my heel under the tap outside.
I can't remember ever losing my temper with her after that!
We used to share a room. That was not a wise choice that my parents made! I love reading at night and she would moan and groan until I would finally turn off the light. Her half of the room was always the nicest. Even if I got first choice of halves her half would always look nicer. She had impeccable taste in designing then, and still does now. I used to be so jealous of that!
Since then besides being sisters, we've become friends. Having kids has wiped away a lot of differences. I don't lose my temper, we respect each others differences and we like to get together, even though it doesn't happen often enough!
So Lise, here's a little of my version of our past. Any comments? ;-)
Love you lots!!
Lise and I have an interesting history. Though I am the oldest, she was the fighter, and paved the way in a lot of things. She had fights with my parents, she had a boyfriend before I did, she went out before I did, she did a lot of stuff before I did!
I think a certain amount of competitiveness was there at an early age.
She drove me up the wall, regularly, when we were small. I remember learning how to count to ten before I lost my temper purely because she would make me so mad I would want to rip out my hair, or hers! The last time I lost my temper with her was when I was fourteen. We were watching Little House on the Prairie. It was summer time and our days were planned around watching Little House on the Prairie (I wept when the programming changed and it didn't show anymore). We settled down in front of the tv and got into an argument about who got to sit where. I ended up sitting in front of her at which point she started to nudge me. Again, and again, and again and again.... Like a dripping tap, you know the feeling! So I asked her to stop, several times (at this point Lise may have a different version of this story :-)). When she didn't, I totally lost it. I turned on her and beat her up and then left the room slamming the door so hard behind me it caught on my heel. I ended up weeping tears of frustration while cooling my heel under the tap outside.
I can't remember ever losing my temper with her after that!
We used to share a room. That was not a wise choice that my parents made! I love reading at night and she would moan and groan until I would finally turn off the light. Her half of the room was always the nicest. Even if I got first choice of halves her half would always look nicer. She had impeccable taste in designing then, and still does now. I used to be so jealous of that!
Since then besides being sisters, we've become friends. Having kids has wiped away a lot of differences. I don't lose my temper, we respect each others differences and we like to get together, even though it doesn't happen often enough!
So Lise, here's a little of my version of our past. Any comments? ;-)
Love you lots!!
One healthy boy
This is what I love to see going on in our garden in the evening after dinner....
Much to be preferred over this.....
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