Member-only story
PEA-IN-THE-POD SISTERS
Both Sides of Love
From the start until the … whenever
I am the fifth of six children in my family. My sister, who is now suffering from Alzheimer’s, is the oldest. Even though we are separated by 15 years, we have been tied at the hip from my earliest days.
My sister was the one who got me started reading. She also encouraged me to write and would then read what I wrote and make gentle suggestions.
This was all very natural as she was a middle school English teacher (as they called it back then). Reading with a critical eye was second nature. So was encouraging her students, of which I was one.
I offer this piece because in sharing our story and her struggle with Alzheimer’s, so many readers have commented about what a good sister I am. That is only the half of it. She was a great sister who set an example first. I am only giving back.
The basis of our relationship has everything to do with what we heard from our father daily.
“What goes around comes around.”
My dad believed that if we were generous, people would be generous back. Kindness only breeds more kindness.
Even better than the words was seeing my dad in action. He ran a small grocery store, and my parents…
