Come True
December 8th, 2006
Once every few weeks we end up buying one of those delicious rotisserie chickens at the grocery story for dinner. And my sister always saves the wishbone.
After it dries out for a few days, it’s time to break. We have a ritual. We stand in the kitchen, each grab one side, and close our eyes.
The first time we did this, Tay made a beautiful suggestion: we should each make a wish for the other so that we’d always be pleased with the outcome, no matter who pulled the larger piece.
We are each other’s delicate mirror and solid foundation. We share memory, pain, and a bottomless well of laughter. It only makes sense that we should each embrace the other’s wish - to have the daring to ask for our sister what she is certainly afraid to hope for herself. Now every time I tug on my end, I think about our future, uncertain but entwined. I know her joy is my own, and my happiness has plenty of room for her.
Right before the final tug, I open my eyes to look at her. I want to kiss her closed eyelids and whisper that we will always be okay.
Snap.
I win. And she has her wish.
Jess.
This is such a beautiful post. I am so moved -”we are each other’s delicate mirror and solid foundation” - I’ve come to know your relationship so well and you have just touched its very core with only a few perfectly chosen words. Tears.
I buy a lot of rotisserie chickens - I wish I could tell every checkout clerk this story (they always look so unhappy - can you imagine the meaning they could invest in each rotisserie pass over the censor??)
I was so moved by this and tried to read it out loud to my girlfriend but couldn’t get through it. I was balling too much. Seriously. VERY seriously.
“to have the daring to ask for our sister what she is certainly afraid to hope for herself”
You are an amazing writer… and sister.
Now that’s one beautiful message. I remember doing this with Uncle Pete, not the wish thing, we were too young. Usually it’s childhood memories that make you cry but not in this case. Blessings to you both……..
This is your best post ever. Ever!
I can barely see this through my tears.
Makes me wish more than anything that I had a sister. And there’s no wishbone out there, or generosity of spirit, that could make that wish come true.
You and Tay are so lucky…
A sister was not in the cards for me…but instead I have you my daughters who are the best sisters to each other on the planet. More than a fair trade, I’d say. I’m beyond grateful.