Sisters

Sisters

I’ve never had a sister, so I feel I know little of the topic. My knowledge is from my mom and her sisters. They were four, Yvonne, Bonnalyn, Millicent (my mom) and Constance. The older two were separated by a few years from the younger two. Still they were close but had what I assume to be the normal sisterly rivalries.

I hear of all their adventures in childhood. They roller skated in the second open floor bedroom of their farmhouse. Sounds like they were incorrigible, but this was during the terrible northwestern New York winters. They swam in the Tonawanda Creek at the back of their properties. Well, not my mother so much as she had a fear of the water. When I was young we went to their swimming hole for a swim. The water was freezing. Mom told of how she, Yvonne and Connie took lots belts and belted Bonnie’s bed so that she had to do a lot of unbuckling to get in bed. She was the bookworm and didn’t participate in all their shenanigans. At times they were all together in the same school room as they attended a one-room schoolhouse.

When they moved to New Jersey a year or so before WWII they lived in a truck that was converted into a trailer. This made for tight quarters. They my grandfather went to sea for a year and sent home no support. My grandmother only had one leg, and this was very hard on her. Yvonne was out of school and worked as a waitress. My mom was 12-yrs-old and worked at the diner with Yvonne after school. They supported the family.

In adulthood they continued to stay close. My family and Bonnie’s lived in southern New Jersey. Connie and Yvonne’s family lived in Florida. But we still would see each regularly. My family and Bonnie’s were together regularly. Thanksgiving was always celebrated together. My cousins went to Delsea Regional HS and my brother and I went to Gloucester City HS. Our schools played football against each other on Thanksgiving, so Bonnie made dinner if it was at Delsea and my mom made dinner if it was at Gloucester. 

They always kept a bond even though there was of course some competition, especially when it came to brag about their children. I loved all the stories, but sisterhood is still a bit of a mystery to me.

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