My Little Sister (09/20/2025)

My little sister is nine years younger than me. She has always been precious to me. I remember the summer she came to stay with Kenneth and I when she was 10. She’s a lefty and was struggling with cursive writing. That summer we worked on her penmanship daily. She turned out to be not only an exceptional little sister but a pretty decent cursive writer. I often thank the LORD for her and the gifts she has brought to my life. She thought I gave her a gift teaching her to write, but I always knew that she brought the gift in her needing me. Sometimes, being needed is the best gift of all.

She continues to be an exceptional sister and human being. She works with great dedication as a registrar at a Catholic university in the Midwest. She is the mother of 5 and a grandmother to a dozen or more. Today she is going to help my mother; she does that every weekend and at least once during the week. I don’t know how she keeps up with all she does for her family, work, and my mother. She is needed by so many. But something tells me that is all right with her.

I always enjoy going home to visit. Time spent with her is always a gift. She has a sense of gratitude that shines brighter than most. While she herself is fighting a battle with Parkinson’s for nearly a decade, she also fights for her husband who has struggled with Lupus since his 30s. But you’ll never spy her face contorted in a pout. That’s not her. She is grateful for each day and each person, accepting the challenges along with the gifts. Sometimes I kiddingly suggest that it’s because she’s a lefty and has always had a different perspective. But I know in my heart it is because she is a woman of faith and gratitude is her mantle.

I’m the big sister; I’m supposed to be the one who teaches, and she’s supposed to be the one who learns from me. But the LORD and I both know the opposite has been true for years. Thank you, LORD, for my little sister, for her spiritual and physical companionship along the way.

As we continue our journeys in faith, buoyed by hope, and fueled by love, let us take time to look at those with us on the way, to discern their needs and to identify gratefully all that they add to our journeys. Let us ask the LORD to open us more fully to the wonders he sends to us in those beside us.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.