Gift of siblings
Friend, foe, rival and staunchest supporter — we celebrate all of that in our siblings this International Siblings Day,
IF you have siblings, chances are, your relationship with them will be the longest you ever have with anyone. It’s a tie that precedes the one you have with you partner; one that can last long after your parents and friends have gone. In other words, I’m stuck with my sisters — all three of them — for life.
I sometimes wonder, when it comes to the decline in fertility rates in our country and others, whether the economic impact will be any more significant than the intimate one. For better or worse, fewer people will know the challenges and comforts of a sprawling clan.
Those comforts are manifold, at least in my lucky experience. With siblings to help shoulder the burden of your parents’ dreams and expectations, you can flail on a particular front with lower stakes — and maybe even less notice.
Siblings not only pick up the slack but also act as decoys, providing crucial distraction. I can attest to that. I mean, I’m the happy-golucky writer who is content with her little car and a quiet life while my sisters have all gone on to climb the corporate ladder of success. In some ways, we couldn’t be any more different — my sisters and I. But in other ways, we’re alike and bound together by fierce love and loyalty.
Siblings are definitely less tailored fits than friends are. But in families that succeed at closeness, they’re more natural, better harbours. Admittedly, my sisters aren’t people I’d have likely made an effort to know or spend time with if I’d met them at school or at work. And yet, a get-together with them still thrills me more than a reunion with friends who don’t make me feel that I’m “a part of a larger quilt”. My sisters do.
National Siblings Day, celebrated yesterday, may not be as widely celebrated or acknowledged as other “family” days like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, but that’s no excuse for not celebrating and appreciating the lifelong bond we have with our siblings!elena@nst.com.my