The Best of Sisterhood

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Spring break.I am vacationing with my extended family, including my brother and sister.

We are in Utah driving through Zion National Park at sunset. Our mouths are agape as we cruise past The Watchman.

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I ask Billy to pull over so we can get out of the car for pictures. I grab my sister Amy for a quick selfie in the gorgeous evening light under the steep red walls.

I put the camera at waist level so the image will show both the scope of the cliffs and our faces. This angle is a dangerous position for women of a certain age.

I adjust the camera.

Fix your chin!” I say to Amy

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Oh, right!” she replies as she stretches out her neck, smoothing the wrinkles.

What did you just say??

My 13-year-old daughter busts into this exchange, aghast. How could I be so rude to Aunt Amy?

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Where do I begin?

I can say ANYTHING to Amy and she understands.

She accepts me when I’m brash and direct. She accepts any indelicate words as well-meaning. Amy assumes good intentions.

Amy isn’t just a biological sister, she is a sister in the broadest, most gracious sense of the word. Amy is part of the greater Sisterhood where you

...have each other's back ...accept foibles and failings ...push for the best in each other ...love unconditionally and laugh uncontrollably

Amy is what every person should have as a friend.

And as far as the chin thing goes, though I subscribe to Nora Ephron's sentiment that “Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of thirty-five, you will be nostalgic for at the age of forty-five,” I still think it’s worth making photo adjustments.

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(Overhead is best. Sunglasses help.)

I know Amy agrees.

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Happiest of birthdays sweet sister.

Thanks for loving so well!