Sisters: This is Us

It was a hot summer day in June of 2000. I (Jenna) was eight years old, Katie was six and Carly was four. We were always outside in our bare feet playing everything you could imagine. Soccer, skip-it and sidewalk chalk were always great go-to’s. It was right around 6:00 p.m. and we heard the garage door open and directly following we heard those dreaded words, “Girls, it’s time to come inside for dinner”. We would drag out going inside as long as we could, but, of course, mom always eventually won. We came inside and washed our hands. While Katie and Carly were finishing up, I took a plastic toy bug- it was an ant, that was probably about an inch and a half long, and placed it on top of Katie’s applesauce as a fun little prank that would make her laugh. Well, little did I know, Katie would turn my playful joke into an end of the world melt down. And it only got worse from there. As Katie’s tears continued to flood more and more, my mom’s level of anger started to get higher and higher. Then, in the deepest, darkest, most frightening voice, my mom asked, “Alright, who did it?”… Well I sure as heck was not admitting to the crime of the century. So the words “not me” flew out of my mouth faster than anything I had ever said before. Now, my mother always knew EVERYTHING! Literally everything… unfortunately, I didn’t know that at the time- considering I was only eight years old. My mom continued to question Carly and I and I kept denying. Then, my mom told us that if we didn’t tell her who put the toy bug into the applesauce, that she would take all of the toys that were Carly’s and mine and she would get rid of them. Well, that solidified the fact that I was not confessing because then all of my toys were gone and I was already in too deep! So, Carly said that she did it so that only her toys would be confiscated, and we wouldn’t lose everything. That my friends, is a true sister. She took the sacrifice for me! Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. My dad- the man who never punished a day in his life and always made my mom the “bad guy”, went upstairs with Carly and started to bag up her toys. I heard Carly’s intense crying up the steps and my heart started to melt. I felt horrible but I was too committed to this lie to give in now. Until… my mom said, “Well, it’s a good thing that we have a video camera recording in the kitchen at all times so that I can look and see Carly putting the ant into Katie’s applesauce.” Well SHOOOOOT! My tears started flooding and I admitted to everything as my mom tried to hold back her smirk because she knew the entire time. Safe to say, I have never lied again and I owed Carly big time!

The lesson that I learned while pulling a playful prank years ago was that fact that no matter what the circumstance is, sisters always have your back. Sisters are the women with whom you share your childhood, your secrets and… your clothes. The only people able to love you, protect you and occasionally drive you crazy all at the same time. The three of us will always love each other unconditionally and be there for one another through it all. And even though Katie is not in any of the pictures posted, she is always there and a constant support. She took the photographs that you see of Carly and I together because, again, we are always there for one another. Unconditional love, an unbreakable bond, The Reed Girls. This is us!