Is it called a nuclear family because it’s unstable, prone to explosion that will spread toxicity? As children, my sisters and I first fought like kittens, not knowing when to withdraw claws, and puppies who nipped and tussled. As we grew, we developed our own personalities, separate from our pride and pack. We also learned deeper ways to hurt, to grab with teeth, hold on and tear.
Five girls, no more than three years between each, but spanning twelve years total. A decade plus. Maggie, who was stuck with us when our parents went out, usually sought solitude outside, hiding on the chimney step. She didn’t know I knew. I never told. Where she got her politics, and her ideals, I’m not sure. She went to college, but never read after that. When she left home to marry, she chose a conservative man to whom she could be subservient. She took women’s studies classes. Who turns around in the face of knowledge and opts to run in the opposite direction?
Rosie, the youngest, and freest of us all Our parents had plenty of practice before she came along. She hasn’t held a regular job, sells bracelets and earrings at street fairs, claims to be polyamorous – and does have two roommates with whom she seems more than just friends.
Joanie and Janie the twins who look exactly alike on the outside and two more different people you would not find. They joke if they were not related, they’d never have met.
And me, Milly. I think I might be a boy. Though I’ve never told my sisters.
Maggie is vocal about marriage being between a man and a woman. And that the government has no place deciding things for people, unless it’s about banning abortion and other reproductive rights of women, then well, she’s all for that. Maggie on a soapbox is a force of nature.
Rosie is everyone’s darling, Maggie’s words roll off her back, and she giggles about it over a glass of wine with her lovers. She’s too carefree to take Maggie seriously.
Janie and I nursed Joanie through an abortion. She was seventeen, and terrified, and we swore to take this secret to our graves. She’s engaged now, to a man who adores her. Janie has decided the single life is for her. To see and travel the world. The two of them share a twin bond thing which they mostly find annoying. Janie makes it a point to slip Rosie extra cash if she has it. Joanie shudders when Maggie is on a rampage.
Me, I reconcile myself to my sisters. Forgive them their trespasses even when they do not know they’ve stepped on my toes, hurt my feelings, or denied my dreams. They are the family I was born to. I celebrate those parts of them I can, and encircle the rest with love.
— Lkai
Five girls, no more than three years between each, but spanning twelve years total. A decade plus. Maggie, who was stuck with us when our parents went out, usually sought solitude outside, hiding on the chimney step. She didn’t know I knew. I never told. Where she got her politics, and her ideals, I’m not sure. She went to college, but never read after that. When she left home to marry, she chose a conservative man to whom she could be subservient. She took women’s studies classes. Who turns around in the face of knowledge and opts to run in the opposite direction?
Rosie, the youngest, and freest of us all Our parents had plenty of practice before she came along. She hasn’t held a regular job, sells bracelets and earrings at street fairs, claims to be polyamorous – and does have two roommates with whom she seems more than just friends.
Joanie and Janie the twins who look exactly alike on the outside and two more different people you would not find. They joke if they were not related, they’d never have met.
And me, Milly. I think I might be a boy. Though I’ve never told my sisters.
Maggie is vocal about marriage being between a man and a woman. And that the government has no place deciding things for people, unless it’s about banning abortion and other reproductive rights of women, then well, she’s all for that. Maggie on a soapbox is a force of nature.
Rosie is everyone’s darling, Maggie’s words roll off her back, and she giggles about it over a glass of wine with her lovers. She’s too carefree to take Maggie seriously.
Janie and I nursed Joanie through an abortion. She was seventeen, and terrified, and we swore to take this secret to our graves. She’s engaged now, to a man who adores her. Janie has decided the single life is for her. To see and travel the world. The two of them share a twin bond thing which they mostly find annoying. Janie makes it a point to slip Rosie extra cash if she has it. Joanie shudders when Maggie is on a rampage.
Me, I reconcile myself to my sisters. Forgive them their trespasses even when they do not know they’ve stepped on my toes, hurt my feelings, or denied my dreams. They are the family I was born to. I celebrate those parts of them I can, and encircle the rest with love.
— Lkai
Fascinating family. Your first sentence is very provocative! I take it you are older than the twins. I cannot figure out how old "Milly" might be. Generation X? Millennial? Younger than me, I'm sure! I am the oldest of six, and as such, I feel responsible for all of them somehow (not that I've always followed through). My mistake is to think they actually "need" me, and I'm offended when they do not, and gratified when they do, even though it's occasionally been stressful.
ReplyDeleteThis one is nearly entirely fiction. Some moral judgments may have been proclaimed by various family members.
DeleteI wanted the sisters to be approx 22 - 35 ish.
Again, beautiful writing. Lyrical prose. Humor and wisdom.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading
ReplyDelete