finally friday, i think . . .

this is my sister laura and me, taken last november 1st, in las vegas. i am the taller one with the pink scarf around my neck. it was the evening of mom's 90th birthday party. we are 9 months apart in age, and some would refer to us as irish twins. we've always been close, but in the past we've also had some differences. this all began about the time i was graduating from high school and planning on college, and she has one year left. i went on to college and laura went on to drugs. we lost our connection to each other for a while.

i am #3 of 6 girls, and laura is #4. we are both the middle child, however i my personality is more of the first born, while hers is more of the real middle child. we've never been into all the stuff, and the family calls us the middle girls. 6 daughters--poor dad :)

laura has cleaned up beautifully. oh, it didn't happen overnight. in fact she's been in an out of rehab more times than i probably know about, but she has been clean for 3 years now. the longest she has ever gone. she hit rock bottom, and it was fix herself or die alone. she fixed herself. it is such a joy to see her now. we're close again. we talk. we share. we even complain about the problem sister on occasion.

today began on a stressful note with mom having a panic attack. i calmed her down and gave her the meds she is take when having one and put her to bed to sleep it off. mr. roll was working at home today so i left him in charge and i took off for some alone time at starbucks. i was sitting there with my book in one of the comfy chairs, but i couldn't get comfortable and i couldn't stay with my book from one paragraph to the next. i gathered all my things and went outside into the sunshine, sat down and called laura. she spent 2 hours with me on the phone. she let me vent, and cry, and talk, and then we laughed and talked about happy things. fun things.

today i realized how lucky i am to have her back in my life. sisters.