Four sisters and one brother

“Be patient, then brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” James 5:7-9 NIV

Last week I wrote about Logan being in a motorcycle accident. He is doing better. I saw a picture of the motorcycle today. A straight up miracle happened at 27th and Indian Trail that day. Once it doesn’t hurt him to do so, I will never not hug him again. It has me thinking about who else I need to say something to, so…

I was raised in a family of six kids, four sisters and one brother. I am the youngest, or maybe I should say the least old at this point. There are 10 years between my oldest sister and me. The five of them think I was spoiled. True enough, but I didn’t mind. Actually, I think my parents were perhaps just worn out by then.

We grew up in two houses, first was 4956 Oak in Kansas City. All four sisters shared one room. My brother and I shared another. We had air conditioning. They did not.

My brother and I had pet frogs, and I mean legit bullfrogs. They were big. They ended up in bed with our sisters one terrible night. Until the day my mom died, she would not acknowledge that it may have been on purpose. Bold move to put a frog in your own bed just to implicate your brothers. I wonder which one of them did it?

On a sad note, probably the maddest I ever saw my dad was the day he drove to work not realizing we had tied the frogs to the bumper of his truck so they could get some outside play time. We didn’t know he was going to work that day. Apparently dragging a bunch of dead frogs behind his truck left him a little open for teasing that day. I remember wondering how long they kept up once he drove away. Apparently, it was not an amusing question then either.

We moved to 2908 North 52nd where we had two people per room. We also had a rec room with a pool table. I thought it was the coolest place I had ever seen, almost like living in a bar - without any alcohol, music audible to my dad, or dancing.

I remember at one point thinking my oldest sister Dianna was the coolest. I don’t know why I remember this, but she spent a week with my grandmother once. I remember hugging her for like an hour when she got home. I couldn’t let her go. Sally was probably picking on me. Her high school graduating class had around 2,000 people or some crazy number. They split students into shifts with one from 6:00 am to noon and the other half from Noon to 6:00 pm.

Karen was second oldest. I remember her singing in church. I don’t think any of the rest of us ever did. It’s funny to me because I could not hit a discernable note if my life depended on it. I wonder if she still likes to sing. I remember her as being the most like our mom in a lot of ways, sort of her own sense of humor. It’s a very good thing to be able to laugh at your own jokes.

We moved during this time and my sister Linda was the first to graduate from a new high school. Linda is probably the most soft-spoken person in our family. When we were kids, however, she had the worst temper I had ever seen. Dang, we picked on her a lot because of that. In a good natured way, I still pick on her. I think she knows I love her though.

By the time my brother Dave was born my dad actually ironed his diapers (cloth diapers back then obviously). One summer we all went to Silver Dollar City and somehow got separated from my parents. I remember Dave saw a tray of hamburgers at a restaurant. He “borrowed” them so he could feed us. He would still do anything to take care of someone he loves. People tell me how intimidating he is because he is big. Any discussion of my brother should also include the size of his heart. We had to tell our daughters not to tell him they liked anything he had because he might give it to them.

Sally is my youngest sister. She was the first to attend college but did not finish due to the birth her oldest daughter. She ended up turning her academic attention toward me. She drove me like a task master in school. I had to turn in work to her before I turned it in at school. She told me once that to this day she checks for grammatical errors and sentence structure every time she reads one of these posts. Literally she grades them.

I could write about each of my siblings but I haven’t let them know this is coming out so I’ll be brief. All six of us have been through a lot of hard things. With my sisters my parents were far more strict than they were with my brother and I. I also know they went through some really hard things that I did not understand at the time. I understand better now. Daughters were not treated as well as sons. Oblivious then, I am aware of it now.

I know every human goes through hard things, but I know as a family I think it is incredible how difficult some roads have been for each of my siblings. As I was reading the verses for this, the word patience kept coming up. Why? Older versions of the bible use the term “long suffering” instead of patience.

Patience is a fruit of the spirit, which means so is “long suffering”. It occurred to me today that perhaps God put six specific people in one family and by His design had a path that was difficult. Maybe in the glorious plan He set in motion the hard things were the very fruit He intended. From this view my sisters and brother are part of not just my physical life. They are the very fruit of His spirit at work in my life.

Why do you need to know any of this. Learn from us. Like all families, conflict occurs. Time passes. Old age creeps in and suddenly you realize you have lost years being only loosely connected to the very people God used to help make you who you are.

I want to tell them that I am proud of all of them. I love all of them. I miss all of them. I cannot solve problems in the world but I can surely let go of them long enough to make sure my four sisters and one brother all know that their little brother still looks up to all of them.

What is the biggest argument you have with a family member? Would you trade literal time for being right?

How many family members do you have? They are not replaceable.

Challenge: Realizing life is too fragile to waste. Tell people you love them.

Rickey Lee Claiborn