Things I Love: My Sisters

I feel like I haven't blogged in so long. Teaching really does suck the life out of me - in a good way. I do love my job.

I also love my three younger sisters. I figured I'd let you in on three cool broads.

Meghan is two years younger than me. We shared a bedroom until I was 17 years old. Bunk beds and all. I was top bunk and she bottom and we had this long mirror that we'd talk through after lights were out. Our topics generally ranged from boys to boys. We actually created this secret collection of "Kathleen + _______ "and "Meghan + _______" hearts scrawled on the underside of my top bunk. We'd lay shoulder to shoulder in her bunk and change the hearts weekly to match our fickle crushes. She kept that mattress for years. When I was 17 and she was 15 she let me cut off half her head of hair...she actually trusted me to do this, which is, quite frankly, the coolest thing ever. I mean, that's a serious level of trust isn't it?

That's Lil' Meg on the left and my spectacularly beautiful mother in the middle...and the other one, the one with the squirrel tail covering half of her face, well, that would be me. Yep. Meg's hair isn't pushed over her shoulder. Nope. It's not pinned back on one side. Nope. It is gone. She let me cut it off. We were into being 100% different. No Izod for us. Looking back, there is no one else on this planet I would have rather been a 'punker' with than my sister Meghan.

Onto Nikole...

Nikole was born cool - four years after me. I remember watching her with her friends when she was in 6th grade and thinking...holy crap...I was never that cool when I was 12. I was too busy struggling to get my hair to stay in the Princess Leia buns. She was cool because she had confidence and swagger - still does. I turned this one closet in my bedroom into a public library, complete with check out cards and due dates. Nikole would check out books from my library and return them late - and I charged A FINE - and she paid it. I love that she paid it. I love that she looked up to me enough not to question the fine. I mean, most kids would be like, "Bite me, it's my book anyway!" But not Niki. She'd paid her fines.

When I was 15, I had the pleasure of being the head coach for the the Saint Lawrence's JV Cheerleading team. My sister Nikole was on my team for two years. For the annual Turkey Bowl I choreographed this dang-good half time show, to the tune of Prince's 1999 (didn't 1999 seem like an eternity away in 1982?). I wish video cameras were around back then. Nikole blew my mind. First off, the girl can dance. I'm talking like J-Lo good. You should've seen her...we're gonna party like it's 1999!!

This is the year I coached her. She's the one right in front of me. And oh yea, I'm the one with the 80's mullet. Sweet heaven above my hair sucked when I was younger.

Lastly...Christina

Christina is eight years younger than me and I seriously thought she was my own personal babydoll. I used to push her around Acme when I was in 8th grade and pretend she was my child. I really thought people would think she was my kid. How whacked is that? I remember when she was 2 I'd say to my mom, "I can't wait to see what she looks like when she's 5." And then when she was 10 I'd say I couldn't wait to see what she was going to look like as a teenagers. And so on and so on. She turned out fabulous.

My mom, Christina, my then fiance/now husband and I all moved to Florida when Christina was 15. I remember dropping her off at New Smyrna Beach High School on her first day of school - hair teased, jeans baggy (in honor of it being 1991 and all) and lip gloss as glossy as it could get and she turned to me and said, "Kate, I'm so nervous."

And I said, "Chrissy, you can do this. Just be yourself. You can do this." She did just fine - still keeps in touch with the friend she made down there.

She's the peanut up front. And yes, I'm the one with the semi-afro on the back. Nice. Real nice.

My sisters are my three best friends. The kind of friends that get together, a lot, and dance in my dining room and hang out long after the Thanksgiving turkey has been devoured, just to party on. I swear, we danced in my dining room this past Thanksgiving. Table pushed out of the way, lights turned down, music pounding and there we were, me, Meghan and Nikole and my husband Todd...all dancing.

God I love my sisters.

*Christina lives in Australia at the moment. I miss her terribly...