SISTER OF THE HEART

Let me introduce you to my friend Suzie, we may not be blood related sisters but to me she is the big sister I never had. I met her at the last job I had and she was responsible for getting me into the world of transcription. When we first met we found that we had a lot in common such as, the same name, we both had three kids, had daughters named Ashley, and had been married the same amount of times. These were only a few things we had in common but as our friendship grew we found we had a lot more in common as well. I knew I had met a kindred spirit when I met Suzie.

The more I got to know Suzie, I found the more I relied on her for advice. To me she was a wealth of knowledge on a lot of subjects and I knew if she gave me advice she wouldn’t steer me wrong. She was the driving force in making my life a better one. If it wasn’t for her my husband and I wouldn’t have bought the house we live in now. Suzie was also the one that trained me to be a transcriptionist, which gave me a bigger paycheck. The most important thing she taught me without her even realizing it was the value of life. I feel truly blessed to have a friend like her.

Suzie to me is the epitome of strength. In her life she deals with her husband’s cancer like a true champ. Very proactive in her husband’s care, she is like a sponge researching every available drug out there to help him and questioning his doctors to the point they feel like a CIA agent is interrogating them. Suzie is a Florence Nightingale when it comes to her husband but then again, Suzie is like that with anyone who is sick or in need. Whether you are human or animal and you need help, Suzie would be the first person there to help, no matter what she had going on in her life she would be there for you. That you can count on.

Magnetic magic is how I would describe Suzie’s personality. If you walked into a crowed room I would have no doubt you would spot Suzie first among the crowd. She just has a way about her that could draw the shyest person out of their shell. Suzie is like a hot fire on a cold day inviting you to sit and warm yourself; you just can’t help but be relaxed around her and confide your deepest darkest secrets to her knowing she would never tell anyone or judge you on them. Without a doubt she has the biggest heart of anyone I know.

To you Suzie I just want to thank you for being the big sister I never had. You have taught me so much about compassion and taking the time to listen and love the people in my life. Remember the sign I had hanging in the office that said, “A friend would bail you out of jail but a true friend would be sitting right next to you saying damn that was fun!” That sign reminds me of us, cause I know you would be sitting right next to me. I just hope you know that when things go bad in your life that I am there for you, like you are for me. I would do anything for you and if I could I would give you the world, after all I believe you deserve it for all that you do for everyone.

I look forward to many more years of our friendship together with the “oh my gods, party fouls, and get me a drink. I also look forward to the tears, joys, and the craziness of it all but most of all I look forward to finding out God’s great plan for us. I really believe that is going to be a true adventure, like an ultimate road trip. You are a true golden friend to me and I pity the fool that ever tries to hurt you because in my true fashion I would go mandango on them. As in true fashion of our friendship I will end this with an L & K to you.

MY SISTER, LINDA

One thing I could never understand in my whole life is the relationship I have with my sister or the lack of relationship I have with her. In our family it was just my sister and I with four brothers, Linda was older than me and you would think that with her and I being the only girls we would have had some kind of camaraderie. Sad to say that was never the case. I believe from the day I was born she hated me and all my life she made sure I knew it. Granted her and I are very different people and if you knew us you would probably never believe we came from the same womb. I know this for a fact because growing up I heard that all the time from people that knew my sister and I.

I always viewed my sister as one of the bitterest people I knew. Growing up we had to share a room together so when it came to knowing her I was an authority on the subject of Linda. I remember a conversation with my dad one time when he was describing the personalities of his kids and when it came to my sister he described her as the bitch. True, Linda was very hard to get along with, and if she didn’t like you she would let you know it. Not to say she didn’t have friends, she did but they had to meet her standards. Those standards were very high to, you had to be popular, you had to have money, and you could not have any physical inadequacy, needless to say my sister didn’t have very many friends, which I attribute to her bitterness. Even though we didn’t get along, I felt sorry for her.

I had hope as adults we would have at least become civil to each other or at least act like we were family but it never happened. Linda always viewed me as white trash. I guess that is because I don’t care about material things like she does and I never went to college. There were a few fleeting times she would talk to me but that was only because she needed to know something or needed my help. I guess to Linda I was like some kind of disease that if she got to close she might catch what I have.

Linda as bitter as she was did manage to get married but as with Linda the man she married had to meet her standards so she married a lawyer with money of course. She now lives in a big house with all the luxuries that come with being rich but she is still miserable and seems not to enjoy life. Linda married for money and not for love, her kids can’t stand her, and her husband is never home. The last time I saw my sister it was at my father’s funeral two years ago and she didn’t even talk to me or acknowledge my presence. It had been a while since I had seen her, she looked anorexic and as if life had beaten her up but the one thing that didn’t shock me was she was still the same ole bitter Linda I had grown up with. She was still giving the dirty looks to people that she thought were beneath her and would only talk to people of a certain class and because of that I knew she was not going to belittle herself and talk to me.

I do have to thank Linda for something though; she did step up and acted like a big sister to me without her even realizing it. Linda taught me a very valuable lesson about life and made me who I am today. She taught me to be kind to everyone and not judge people for what they don’t have or look like, that there is more to life than material things, and life is short so enjoy what time you have here. I may never see Linda again but I do hope for her sake she learns to stop and smell the roses and learns to love the people in her life and if she does learn this then maybe she can consider this a gift from her little sister.