~ National Siblings Day - April 10th, 2017 ~

"Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring - quite often the hard way."

I was born an only child.  And by the time I was 5 and my mother got re-married, I had 3 older step-sisters.  

And when I say 'older', I mean that I was 5 and already had nieces and nephews, because they were "old enough" to have children. I use that term loosely, though.  They were still kinda young... mid to late teens.

Anyway.  They say that you can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends?  

Try telling a stubborn-ass five-year-old Tivi that you can't choose your family.  

I was damned determined to only 'keep' one of them as my sister.  The other two, I couldn't care less.  Lol.  It was like I got super attached to one of them... the oldest, which kinda makes sense... and the other two just... meh.

Then again, the youngest still hasn't quite grown up yet.  So, perhaps I was just a super good judge of character at 5 years old.

Nevertheless, I know I can always call on my oldest or middle sister if I feel like I'm slowly going insane.  That's admittedly happened a lot lately, with my step-dad - their dad - going through Chemo.  

I just need the occasional mental kick in the ass... and so of course, what do I do but call my sisters who are 12 hours away... if for no other reason than I know they can't actually PHYSICALLY kick my ass from that far away.

It's an interesting relationship, to say the least.

See, the stuff I kept reading about the founder of National Siblings Day kept saying that she felt like Siblings should be celebrated because of the blood relationship that they share... so clearly this woman was never in a sorority.

My sisters in Eta Sigma Delta are the sisters I can be close to when my step-sisters aren't always available.  

I don't really have the whole parents and siblings thing in SL, and so when I need family-like guidance, it's usually these incredibly strong women that I share letters and colors with, but not blood, that I turn to.

Siblings are not always blood related.  They don't always look alike.  But they're some of the best people to keep close to you and keep in your corner.  

They will always have your back when you need them.  Just as you should always have theirs.

Celebrate your siblings today, blood-related or otherwise.  And don't forget to use the hastag #NationalSiblingsDay on social media to scream it to the world just how much you love and appreciate your Siblings.

❤ Samineh (Tiviyah Resident) aka Big Sister Enigmatic