The Sweetest Gift

I can barely believe this summer is pretty much behind us.  I can barely believe that my last post was almost 2 months ago, when Miss Ruby celebrated her first birthday.

There are so many moments when I feel I should share my thoughts here.  But then I doubt myself (Do I really need to share that? Is that sharing too much as Cora gets older and should have more privacy?) or I get caught up in the overwhelming chaos that having two small children entails and time just keeps slipping by.

But here we are, ready to welcome back the long months of rain, ready to send Cora back to her wonderful preschool.  The summer has seen so much growth.  Ruby went from a barely toddling wee girl, to a running and spinning toddler who is trying so hard to catch up with her big sister.

Cora has grown in inches and shoe sizes, and is turning into such a lovely little girl.  All the traces of my sweet baby girl seem to have faded into her new contours, her new attitudes, and her astounding growth.  She continues to amaze us with her increases in communication. She is talking more and more, and those closest to her are starting to increasingly decipher her words.  It's a process, and a slower one than many are used to, but she works so hard and wants so much to be understood.  She's getting there and I am so proud.

These days the girls are barely up and out of their pajamas before they're both asking to go outside.  Cora says "Park, Mummy!" and Ruby pipes in with  "Bar! Bar!" while signing "outside."  Eventually we make our way down the front steps onto the expanse of grass across the street, where they take turns chasing one another around, playing peekaboo behind trees, and racing around calling for the neighborhood squirrels.




Witnessing a sisterhood like this develop and grow its roots feels like I'm being given glimpse into such a magical and private world.  Something deep and loving and BIG.  Something that I hope with all my hopes carries with them through this life.  Oh, they fight, of course.  Actually, most of the time Ruby ends up picking on her tender big sister.  We're working on it.  I'm sure we won't be able to eliminate the picking, but at least getting it to be a little more equal wouldn't be a bad idea.

But that's part of a sisterhood too.

I have been feeling especially nostalgic of late, reflecting on the generations of sisterhood in my family, and how very blessed I have been to witness such true and profound friendships.  To grow up seeing my mother and her sisters, such incredible women with such a close bond, really inspired me to value and encourage my relationship with my own two sisters, and has made watching my daughters' bond blossom all the sweeter.

In the last year, those sisters lost a member.  A deeply beloved member.  Her loss has rocked many, and though I have been grieving for my own loss and the loss of my girls who won't grow up knowing her, I just can't get over the enormous loss for the sisters left behind. 

I look on my own two girls' love for one another with silent prayers that their relationship will follow in the footsteps of their grandmother and their mother, and that they will keep one another close for many years to come.

These are big hopes.  That I know. For now, I get to witness their interactions and the complexity of their growing relationship.  They will choose for themselves as life unravels.  But they have some great examples before them, and the most heartfelt love for one another.  I sincerely hope the purity of that love will endure, even as life adds new layers and challenges.  That type of love is the sweetest gift.