Ties That Bind

There are many ties that bind but one of them is surely blood. Here I am with my brother and sister.

I know not everyone gets along with their siblings, and some sibling relationships not only do not bind but aren't even healthy. Life is complicated.

But I love my brother and sister and I credit my parents for having made it so. We had our squabbles. We still do occasionally. But our parents set the example of forgiveness. If you mess up, you apologize. If you disagree, you try to understand the other's point of view and apologize for whatever part you played in the conflict. Rarely does the blame fall entirely on one person.

We also were never allowed to be intentionally hurtful in our disagreements. You couldn't go personal. And there was a line past which no one ever crossed. Respect for each other had to be maintained. Did we ever yell? Sure. But we did not attack. We stuck to the issue at hand.

As a result, I don't think any of us hold any grudges against each other. (Watch, one of them will call me and bring an incident up. Remember that one time.....Hehehe. Well, nothing comes to mind.)

When I'm having a bad day I call my sister and she lets me vent. I do the same for her. We both know that, for the most part, we will always be on each other's side.

My brother can always make me laugh. Regardless of the circumstances, he will be able to find something funny about it-- and something that I will think is funny as well. We seem to have exactly the same sense of humor. Sometimes just a look from him can crack me up. And when the three of us are all together, sometimes we can hardly stop laughing.

So today I'm feeling grateful for my siblings and for parents who taught us well how to get along.

Stay warm. We're getting a lot of snow in Michigan. Guess I better call my sister and find out what the weather is like in Missouri. :-)