My mom had a baby when I was in my teen years When I was 14 yrs old, my mom had a baby. I was so excited because I love babies. I always knew it was going to be a girl too. Something in my gut told me I would have a baby sister. I used to go with my mom to the doctor's appointments. Not one day came where I felt angry that another sibling was going to be part of the family. I always loved large families and the fact that my immediate one was growing, well that was something I was happy about. I counted down the days until I could look my sweet baby sister in the face and watch her grow. My other family members were very happy about a new baby also.

It was April 1, 2001. I was sitting in our living room on our old, floral print couch in front of the wood stove with my mom, dad, and little brother who was three at the time. I was sweating, partially because I was wearing a furry pink bath robe over my pajamas while the wood stove was turned all the way up, and partially because I was nervously reading aloud, “Green Eggs and Ham,” a book I had not yet memorized. If you are wondering why we were sitting in front of the wood stove with it turned all the way up in April, it is because we lived in North Idaho where nine months out of the year it snows. While I was reading, my mother was sitting on one side of me helping me sound out and pronunciate the words I had not yet memorized. My little brother was sitting on the other side of me looking at the pictures on the pages. My father was sitting on the other side of my little brother and was without a doubt probably thinking about his upcoming turkey hunting season instead of listening to, “Green Eggs and Ham” for the thousandth time.

I'm sitting here remembering my childhood. Where were the moments that my sister and I bonded? I close my eyes and snippets of images come to mind...we used to play in the attic a lot, we'd go ice skating together, and play Barbie.

Growing up as a kid my sisters where hell. I was hell. In this story they are numbered by age. I'm the fourth sister being the youngest.

Chapter 3: Winsley is Jealous It had been a week since they reunited Winsley with his mother. Mostly they were alone in the room. They would bring food and have their water bowls refilled. Humans had done this every few hours, often in the middle of the night.

There are three of us. THREE. And speaking of 3s I was 33 the year I met my SISTERS for the very first time. This was our first picture taken together. EVER. They are 12 & 15 years older than me, we share the same father , or sperm donor as I like to call him. He was married to Ginna ( my sisters mother) and while pregnant with Ashley the middle sister, my “ father” left a note for Ginna that had Heather age 2 and Ashley in her belly at just 4 months, he said “ he couldn’t handle it” and left. Walked out never looked back. Fast forward some years he meets Tricia, MY MOM, and they marry have me and lo & behold the crackpot does it again! Except this time my mom kicked him out , after letting him come back a few times, she had ENOUGH. Filled for sole custody he of course never contested and that WAS THAT. I always knew I had “ sisters” not just step but actual BLOOD siblings... but I grew up an only child and I never had any kind of relationship with my sisters or my father ... up until March 2020. My father reached out to the three of us, said he had written a book and it was dedicated to “ his girls” convenient we were his girls when he needed to sound like a nice caring man son people would read his literal CRAP book, none the less it went to ALL THREE OF US. And I am the firmest believer that “ everything happens for a reason” cool story about that for another time. Never the less... they both reached out to me, through social media, told me they wanted to know their “ sister” they wanted me to know my NIECES AND NEPHEWS... they loved me . Talk V about throwing someone for a loop... I went from being an only child with no siblings or any nieces or nephews to overnight having two sisters. A brother in law, and FIVE nieces and nephews. There were EIGHT people, eight family members, who knew about me and WANTED to know me! Be a part of my life.

It is the brink of the 2020 holiday season and unlike any, we have ever known. One way or another we will all try to do our best to salvage traditions in light of social distancing. Perhaps gift shopping is best done online which isn’t terrible since most of us shop online already. Technology will provide virtual visits when travel and gatherings are not safe. I know it seems really impersonal maybe even lonely but these are the times we are currently living in. Even if things cannot be the same as years gone by we will all have to find a way to get into the holiday spirit and make the best of things. Personally I am excited for our first snowfall not a dusting but at least a couple of inches. Although this is something many would rather do without but for me it brings back some wonderful childhood memories.

I’m 28 and he is only 22. If we do the math, you’ll see that I was born six years before him. That’s how big the gap between us. Wait until we’re together in public. You’d think that I’m the young one, and he’s the elder one. It’s like he is Goliath and I’m David.

Growing up on an acreage in Central Alberta, my brother Dustin and I spent many a winters’ day constructing makeshift snow forts from freshly fallen snow.

April Fool's Day. The only day of the year where it is not only permissible to play jokes on people, it is encouraged. This is a true mom story. The morning of this particular April Fool's Day, my second-born son, Austin crafted a devious plan for his older brother Daniel. Austin took some strawberry flavored Ex-lax and carefully mixed it into a cup of coffee that he then brought to his brother.

This story is a favorite of my niece (currently 12) and nephew (currently 10). They like hearing stories about disagreements their mother (my sister) and I had when we were growing up.

The Battling Sisters If memory serves me right, there were eight of them. Ms. Katherine had eight children, six boys and two girls. For the most part they were a relatively quiet family. They never bothered anyone; they mostly came and went about their business. I lived right below them for fifteen years and they never made much noise, yes they were a quiet family. They didn’t have much as far a material items may go, but they loved each other and to be honest, especially today, that is more valuable than any material or monetary wealth. Oh, my apologies, I was talking about Ms. Katherine’s eight children, sometimes I get easily throwed off mid-sentence, if I do it again, please don’t be ashamed to redirect me.