Sisters??!?!?

Though there is only an 11-month age difference between my sister Deni and I (my folks, those crazy kids, what WERE they thinking???), we are like night and day. Black and white. Apples and oranges. Good sister, bad sister (I’ll let you surmise who is who). We don’t act alike and we certainly don’t look alike. She’s a brown-eyed brunette and I a blue-eyed blonde. Contrary to popular belief, I was not spawned by Stan the Mailman. You gotta wonder, then, how on earth the same two parents produced entirely different individuals. Were they facing east instead of west while in the throes of passion? Was there a full moon one night but not the other? Did it have something to do with eating kielbasa and sauerkraut?

I spent a good portion of the day with dear friends Perry and Cherri, who have two of THE cutest kids you’ve ever seen. Like my nephew, Olivia and Sarah are “plain five.”  As an aunt, it is my duty to teach them the same important things in life as I do my sisters’ and brother’s kids.  They must know how to hold up two fingers and yell, “Groovy!” and after finishing a yummy meal declare, “That was delish!” And, of course, they must tolerate being spoiled rotten.

The perplexing polar phenomenon is again noted in these sisters … and they are twins! Olivia looks like Mommy. She’s animated, a born entertainer, and has been dubbed the Fashion Girl. She can sit for hours and leaf through catalogs (a girl after my own heart!). She walks better in stilettos than I do and, trust me, won’t hesitate for a second to give your outfit the “thumbs down” if she disapproves. Sarah, on the other hand, looks like Daddy. She’s more timid and apprehensive. She is a nurturer, and also has an innate aptitude to play the piano and downhill ski (watch out Lindsey Vonn!). Her giggly laughter is as endearing as her pigtails. Good thing I’m not supposed to play favorites … I could never choose one over the other. I love both of my nieces to pieces!

We’re all born with different traits which coalesce to form our uniqueness. Know what, though? I don’t think I’d want it any other way. How boring would it be if we were all alike?  As they say (even though I have no idea who "they" are), variety is the spice of life!