Day of Gratitude #29 – Siblings

The older I get…the more life I experience…the more grateful I become for my siblings. What a terrific gift it is to have a collection of people who know you better than anyone else. It’s not just the inside jokes and hard-wire appreciation for certain things…it’s the shared common experience that no matter how hard you try you just can’t escape. Growing up, my brothers were my first playmates. I was the girl who played cops and robbers and G.I. Joe and war. As a teenager, my brothers and their wives became my examples, my confidants and my trusted advisors. It was their bright example that lit the path for so many of my decisions. And now as an adult, my siblings-both mine and Burke’s, and their spouses are our dearest friends. It’s our siblings and our parents and our nieces and nephews that we moved across the country to be near. These are the people we want to celebrate both the established holidays and the random Tuesday nights with. I love talking to my brothers. Nobody can make me laugh (or cry) like they can. My sister-in-laws are the best women I know. None of us are perfect and none of us claim to be and it’s okay. We’ve all got warts and its okay. We all see the world differently and I love that. I feel both blessed and grateful for the people that a wise and knowing Creator hand selected for me to be my traveling companions for life.