Monday, April 23, 2012

The beginnings of a sisterly tradition

all the way in New Orleans. But, let's back up a bit.

My sister is 6 years younger than me, which meant things were somewhat different than most people think of when they hear there are just 2 of us girls in the family. People have visions of best friends, gossiping together, sharing clothes, etc. I left India when I was 18, an all knowing teenager out to conquer the world; which meant my sis was 12, a little girl. I did not really see her again till she turned 16, and that was only for 2 weeks. She'd grown into a teenager without me seeing the transition. And I was  world weary 21 year old who looked down her nose on this precocious (typical) teenager. After that, we saw each other one more time when Jeff and I got married in India in 2006. But, once again, for 2 weeks and that too, a very busy 2 weeks. So, my sis and I didn't really connect then either.

Then, a few years later, she moved to the US and we lived together while she finished a graduate program at Johns Hopkins. This is when we really "grew" up together. We shared shopping trips, sometimes even clothes, we gossiped, we fought, we laughed at stupid jokes, we argued ... but there's something about having missed so many years of growing up together that it never felt natural. And, then she moved away to NC. And, now our visits are relegated to short spurts of Oliver mostly, no time for us to really talk.

So, when she invited me along to New Orleans for a weekend, where she had a conference, I jumped at the chance to have 2 whole days of just us 2 girls, no husband, no child, no parents, just the 2 of us.

And, it was so much better than I expected. We talked, we stayed out late, we tried the local food and drink, we connected as 2 adult women, we reconnected as sisters.

St. Louis Cathedral
Horse carriage by Jackson Square
We saw history on foot and by horse carriage.












We saw Bourbon Street by night and we saw it by day.









And, of course, we tried the famous beignets at Cafe DuMonde.


And, I believe we have the beginnings of a tradition. One weekend a year, the 2 of us will go somewhere. Maybe it'll coincide with a conference for her, maybe something for my work. Or, maybe we'll just pick new places to go see together. Because, I would love to repeat this weekend with my sis again and again, for as long as we can.

1 comment:

Lauren said...

What great photos and looks like a wonderful time! Hope you are doing well!