In less than 24 hours a baby is indeed coming.  While I may be on pins and needles at this moment awaiting for our own adoption to proceed, my little sister is home in New York awaiting tomorrows c-section where she’ll meet her own little girl.

Ironically, my sisters due date and the Birth Moms due date happen to be the very same date (despite my sisters scheduled c-section a week earlier).  Unfortunately, due to the timing and traveling, I find myself sitting in Texas…not with my family during this joyous occasion which I  totally regret.   

I have two sisters, both of whom I am extremely close to.  Growing up though, it was Gina that I had found myself always “being a kid with”.  Whether it be riding bikes, playing Nintendo, pretending and imagining we were different people, having secret codes, sudden bursts of laughter that no one understood what it was we were laughing at, taking the car out for a spin when I was 14 (you know..the usual).  We also kept one another’s secrets because we knew one another’s secrets-we witnessed them, and at times, participated in them.  

The author Jeffrey Kluger wrote perfectly that, “Siblings are the only relatives, and perhaps the only people you’ll ever know, who are with you through the entire arc of your life.  Your parents leave you too soon and your kids and spouse come along late, but your siblings know you when you are in your most inchoate form.”  I tell my partner all the time that I would never have gone through with trying to have one child if there was not going to be at least another one to follow.  I feel so strongly about our child having a sibling because of the relationship that I have with my own siblings.  Afterall…my siblings have certainly seen me at my worst, and I’ve seen them at theirs (much more so than each one of our partners have seen). My sisters and I have had some major, hair pulling, cursing, throwing, wonderful, competitive fights!  Oh, some of them were beautiful! And they lasted about 10 seconds. No one has run away or left. I don’t think we ever held a grudge for very long…if ever.  To have a relationship that spans a lifetime such as that…who wouldn’t want if it was possible?  

Despite the fact that I am not with my little sister as she gives birth to the families first grandchild, any doubts she may have about motherhood, may they be laid to rest by the one person who I feel spent the most time with her growing up.  I think she will be an amazing mother.  Gina was filled with imagination, creativity, spontaneity, curiosity, enthusiasm, and most importantly, utter loyalty.  All of those features, while still within her, will be given to her daughter. I truly think that her little girl will be Gina’s best friend.  And whether or not my niece has siblings may not matter in this instance because my sister has the capability to fill every space and void needed to complete that little girl. 

I am so happy for her and her husband on their new family and bid them well wishes, healthy years, and nothing but the most beautiful memories an entire lifetime deserves.  xoxo