Why am I living so far away from my sister? It's so not right. Being with her--just the being, the existing in the same space--reminds me of all the reasons why I miss her.
Nobody knows you like your sister.
I told her tonight that instead of "remember the Alamo" I'm going to start saying "remember Chicago."
It's not just the city, of course--although the city is absolutely gorgeous!
It's what Chicago represents. Chicago means my sister. And my brother in law. And my nieces and nephew.
Chicago means family. And as you know, I'm a relationship-driven person. I stand or fall based on the health of my primary relationships.
Having my sister live 2,000 miles away has been an incredible loss for me.
My sister lived through the hell that was my fundamentalist upbringing. Which is to say, she knows my sh--stuff.
And she loves me still the same.
Nobody laughs at my jokes quite like my sister. My sister laughs uproariously and unabashedly at my quirkiness. We can mess around (like the pic above--making faces in the "silver bean" sculpture at Millennium Park) and laugh like crazy hyenas and really NOT care who is around.
My sister is a wonderful mother. I admire her so much. I thought my children were well-behaved. Until we sat down for dinner last night and her children ate vegetable stew and salad without one complaint. My kids howl over their veggies. Her kids just pound 'em down.
My sister is taller than me. She also has longer arms. So, she was in charge of all our self-portraits. I think she did a great job, don't you?
Tonight we went up to the 96th floor of the Hancock building. We had a couple drinks and talked about old times. We laughed, shared stories and marveled at the incredible Chicago skyline. Then we came home and settled down on her couch with our matching laptops.
We tried to decide on which music to play.
She likes musicals and I prefer R&B. She likes Death Cab for Cutie and I prefer Alicia Keyes. She likes indie movies and I like romantic comedies. She voted Democrat and I voted Republican.
She thinks I sing off-key and I think she's crazy.
She thought Ewan McGregor was hot in Moulin Rouge. I thought it was hot when Andre Ethier hit a home-run.
We do agree on Coldplay.
But at the end of the day, love surpasses any and all differences. We hate living so far apart. I'm going to pretend that I don't have to go home on Monday.
I'm going to live in the moment and soak up each precious day with her.
I'm going to remember Chicago.
