God has blessed me with four sisters. I want to talk about them for a few minutes.
Nancy has been my sister since the day she was born. Like any good sister, she has known me better than anyone else. (Anthony knows me pretty well, and Nancy has missed some of the last few years, but deep down she still knows me best in some ways.) And she has always loved me, even knowing me that well. We all have things about us that we know make us unloveable and it’s a wonderful surprise to realize someone loves us anyway. I think that’s one of the most wonderful things about marriage, realizing someone else loves you and wants to live with you even after they learn the unloveable things about you.
Nancy was always brave, outgoing, easy at being with people, didn’t hold a grudge, and did a lot of things really well (singing, sports, dancing, acting…). I wanted to be like her growing up. After our parents divorce, she went in different directions and life wasn’t easy for her. She has given me two wonderful nephews that teach me new things all the time. She’s moved out to Portland, Oregon, and I just think that’s too far away.
When I married Anthony I got a new sister, Christine. She’s actually a lot like Nancy – outgoing, brave, and good with people. She’s taught me some good things over the years. She’s right down in Charlotte and we should see each other more often than we do. We have good times when we are together, we share good authors/books and she’s got the physical flexibility that I wish I had.
Then Anthony’s brother got married and I got another sister, Alison. She is really wonderful. We have some things in common (in addition to being married to Navarro men), but she also does some things that I wish I could do. For one, she can come into my kitchen with nothing in it and whip up a meal to feed five. She is also a patient mother of three boys. I spent one year taking classes each month in Raleigh and I would stay with them for a night or two. I had so much fun hanging out with them and watching the boys grow that year.
My fourth sister is my nephews’ mother. Nancy’s ex-husband remarried and brought Tracy into my life. We are pretty different and that’s pretty nice. She’s been a nurse so she can be very practical, which is handy with three boys. She took a huge step marrying a man with two sons. She’s been a steady presence for those two and they quickly began to call her mom. It’s enough when you marry someone and have to accept his parents and siblings. But Tracy took it in stride that she also got an ex-sister-in-law as part of the package.
