Never Were There Such Devoted Sisters

Well, maybe there were more devoted sisters than Jody and I, but I sure am glad God gave me the sister He did! My girls were asking this afternoon what I might blog about today --I didn't have a clue. I threatened at one point to turn their less-than-savory behaviors into a humorous post (humorous for everyone but them). Michelle turned to Catie, the one who'd begged me to start a blog, and said, "Now see what you've done!!"

I am going to try to refrain from turning this site into an expose my children forum, so we'll just have a code for those days when motherhood is not exhileratingly joyful, it will be "my dog is sooo wonderful!"

Since I can't tease my girls today, I think I'll tease my sister instead. She is precious to me and makes me laugh like no one else can. I love whenever I can spend time with her, which is not often enough,since we live so far apart. My favorite time spent with her ever was December 2001 when she & I went on a cruise together.

My father had won the cruise in a golf tournament. However, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer about that time and opted to have surgery. The surgery conflicted with the cruise date, and so, not wanting to give the cruise to one daughter over the other, he offered it to Jody & I to take together. He had his surgery, which went very well, and was home recovering when Jody & I set out together for luxury on the high seas. We received great news of his post-surgical biopsy while we were still docked and waiting to leave. PTL!

My sister is so fun to be with--we had a blast! We scrapped most days, hauling enough supplies up to the poolside deck to make people ask if we were checking out early. We loved the buffets but made up for it walking a lot of stairs, partly because the elevators were so slow, and partly because we were trying to avoid a "friend" Jody had made one ride. She thought she was being kind to a man whom she honestly thought was a little "special" (in politically correct terms: intellectually challenged). Turns out he wasn't so special, but he did appreciate her interest in him and told her he hoped to see her more often!

There were many things to laugh about, including the pillow mints Jody sat on and melted two nights in a row, but perhaps the funniest incidents came about due to her lack of sleep. Jody has sleep apnea, and during our cruise it was very bad. She awoke each morning having had the equivalent of two hours of sleep. By day 3 of our 4 day cruise, it was catching up with her. That was the day we went to Catalina Island. We didn't do most of the offered excursions, but we did ride on the glass bottom boats--something I'd wanted to do for years. It was very relaxing sitting under the shade of the canopy, watching the sealife through the glass bottom of the boat, and listening as the captain explained everything we were viewing. I noticed near the end of the tour that Jody was snoozing behind her sunglasses. I poked her and asked her if she was wearing the sunglasses so no one would notice her nodding off. She got a startled look on her face and exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot I had these on!" She then whipped them off, looked again at the bottom of the boat and discovered, "Oh--there are fish down there! I thought the captain was making it all up!"
That night, her lack of sleep was showing again. After enjoying the karaoke lounge (as mockers only) we'd returned to our cabin to pack our luggage. We were getting it ready to set in the hallway as instructed. Jody was multi-tasking and changed partway into her pj's while packing. However, as I watched her zip up her suitcase and move toward the door, I was a little concerned and cautioned, "You're not going out like that, are you?" She ignored me. As she moved closer to the door, I tried again, "Jody, you're not going out like that, are you?" Once again, no response. Finally, as she opened the door, I hollered, "Jody! You're in your bra!" She immediately threw the door closed in a panic. She'd totally blown me off, thinking I was making a big deal of her heading into the hallway in her pjs and forgetting she wasn't completely in them yet! Yup, two hours of sleep is not a good thing!

Four months after that cruise, Jody & her family moved to Indiana. I think that time together was a special gift from God. Of all the things I love about my sister, the best is that she is also my sister-in-the-Lord! God has given us both truly more than we deserve.