Twins

Beth (3) and Emily (5) are sitting on the family room floor playing with their stuffed animals.  Emily is tossing Minnie Mouse in the air and pretending Minnie can fly.  Beth is holding the pink care bear on her lap and pretending to feed her lunch.

“Emily, can you be my twin.”  Beth asks.

Emily pauses before answering.  “Sure.”  She smiles.  Beth hops up and rushes over to Emily to hug her.  The girls share a tight embrace before returning to their games.

I smile to myself.  A few minutes before, they had been arguing over Minnie Mouse.  Now they are best friends.   

That’s how it is with sisters.  You may argue.  You may fight.  But in the end, you are still best friends.

Lucky for me, I grew up with two sisters, one older and one younger.  Sometimes Theresa, Tina and I were best friends.  Other times….well, not so much.  But we always loved each other.

Like when I was ten and Theresa and I went away to Girl Scout day camp together.  Our troop had spent the week making flowers out of macaroni noodles, singing songs and hiking in the woods.  On Friday night, we would be spending the night at camp.

At first, I was excited.  We would get use our sleeping bags.  All of our friends would be there.  We would lie on the ground and gaze up at the stars.  We would watch the clouds spin across the moon and listen to the night noises.  It was going to be perfect.

As the day drew on, my excitement turned to nerves.  My nerves turned to fear.  My fear turned to tears.  I wanted to go home.

My counselor found me sitting on a bench with a red face and tears in my eyes.  I told her to call my Mom to come and get me.  Instead of calling my Mom, she called my sister.

For the next few minutes, Theresa sat beside me.  She reminded me that she had been to camp last year.  She knew the ropes.  

“Don’t worry.” She said.  “It’s going to be a lot of fun.  There’ll be a campfire.  And smores and songs.”

“But it will be dark.” I moaned.  Theresa reminded me she had flashlight in her backpack.  I knew about the flashlight.  The day before, Theresa and I had argued over who would get to use it.  Now she was offering it to me.  

“What about wild animals?” I asked.

“There aren’t any wild animals around this camp.” Theresa said.  She sounded confident, so I believed her.  In the end, Theresa convinced me to stay and I had one of the most memorable nights of my life.

A few years later, Tina came to camp for the first time. “Don’t worry.” I assured her.  “Camping out is fun.”  Tina and I slept side by side in our sleeping bags that night just like Theresa and I had done on my first trip.

Now I am watching my own girls.  They play together.  They sing together.  Sometimes they fuss and argue.  But they always love each other.   And they’ll always be best friends.