Talking to my Sister

There is no obligatory greeting at the beginning of our phone conversations. As soon as my sisters pick up the phone, I just go-- no stalling, no waiting, no patience-- as if I just walked into the kitchen where they are stirring a pot of soup.

She picks up the phone. ME: "I can't find the chickpeas. Do they keep them with the rest of the canned beans?"

Or she picks up the phone. ME:"So, for our camping trip, we'll go on Friday night and stay in Sedona, AZ. Oak Canyon is supposed to be beautiful right now. Oh yeah, do you want to go camping?"

She picks up the phone. ME: "I bought a shirt. And the sale, it was incredible. Do you think the shirt looks good on me? Uh... just a second, I'll send you a picture."

Minutes and days later, our conversations are still relevant. Somehow, something we discussed ends up being a key absolute in another conversation with another person at another time. I could start every conversation with, "So, I was talking to my sister and..." and I often do.

So, I was talking to my sister and...

- I told her I was dancing to "Poker Face." She didn't know "Poker Face" was a song and said instead, "It's true, you do make a strange face when you dance." I make a poker face when I dance.

- We decided that she should serve four dips at the baby shower and not just three. It was a big debate. We concluded: four dips at a baby shower is NOT overboard. I repeat, it is NOT overboard.

- We discussed what makes a good politician. A good one has to be willing to stand their ground without being overbearing. Good politicians are silently strong.

- She told me that being a sappy girl isn't always a bad thing and sometimes it's unavoidable. She told me to embrace it. Or at least be okay with it. All girls are sappy sometimes.

- After a thorough analysis of Funyuns, we decided that they are indeed disgusting. Do not buy Funyuns, unless it's just for fun.

So, I was talking to my sister and... I decided that I have sisters who always seems to be stirring soup in the kitchen-- waiting for my interruptions, my rantings, my analysis, and my excitements-- when in reality, they are not. I'm not naive, I know they are really running to the grocery store, barely avoiding catastrophes, planning their own parties, helping their neighbors, and taking care of their adorable ones. But, they seem to just be stirring soup and waiting for my call.

I want to be that kind of sister too.