Written and Edited - May 11th, 2017 - 4:00 pm to 4:51 pm
Edited - May 12th, 2017 - 10:02 am to 10:05 am
A Walk in the Park
One of my fondest memories is when my sister and I walked to our respective schools together.
During our walks, we'd talk with each other about various things. I remember thinking that not only was this a special in general, but even more so because it was with my sister. I felt like it was a special or unique relationship, especially in the context of sharing parents, like all siblings. And we had many shared experiences.
I feel like we had some conflicts growing up, but nothing major. I think that I was in the 8th and 9th grades and she was in the 10th or 11th grades. If memory serves correctly, we went to school in 3 main ways on any given day. Sometimes, we got to school by bus, by car or walking to school together.
Our travel route was through Lake Daniels Park. When we got to Grimsley High School, my sister would proceed there and I'd go off to Kiser Junior High School.
I remember being in awe of those grown people in high school and I couldn't wait to get there and become a high school student myself. I couldn't get there fast enough.
I'd ask my sister about some of her various experiences as a preview to prepare for a similar one for me and maybe learn something from her experience and perspectives.
One time I asked her about her SAT score and I think that she said that she didn't remember. The SAT score was one of many anxious moments that I had before and during the SAT. Now I don't remember my score and much anything else about it, which has been the case for a very long time.
One time, when we had just gotten to Grimsley, someone in a car drove by and whistled that "woo, woo" at us. I turned and said something like thanks, right away without missing a beat. I think that my first thought was that they were whistling at me. My sister's response was to smile and laugh with my reaction and explain or clarify the situation. That they probably were whistling at her. And I think that my response was something like, oh that makes more sense.
Now, about 35 years later, I see the whistling situation in the context of gender, gender oppression and privilege. And, the general walks and our relationship in the context of family dynamics, siblings, older and younger siblings.
When my sister graduated high school, she went to and graduated from college and eventually to have her own family.
I feel like our relationship has always been good, but somewhat distant. I think the distance comes more from my part. When my sister had her own family, even though she never rejected me logically, I felt like I didn't want to bother her, especially, when her children were born.
And I feel very blessed that we have a good relationship. But I feel like our walks to school were especially precious. Maybe because we were finally in a similar place, both teenagers and could share a world view. When we were growing up, my sister was always a developmental stage ahead of me. But when we were both teenagers, even though we had the same amount of time gap, we shared being in a bulk of time together, teenage by numbers and junior and senior high school, similar or more relatable experiences.
And we might have those kind of treasured moments in the future. And we've had other treasured moments before and since then. But I think that there's something about our walks as grouped in a larger time period, at least in my mind.
But in the meantime, I'm so thankful for that period of time in my life. I think that the experience served me well during that time and I think maybe since.
So, thanks for those walks Tone. I appreciate it.