Today is my sister’s birthday. I’m late with a card and a gift, but wanted to write a post about my very special sister. She came into my life when I was a few months shy of FIVE. I was for sure the princess of the family by then, being an only child for almost five whole years. What was I to do with ‘competition’. We lived out in the ‘country’ in a rural area of London, Ontario, Canada. Our fraternal grandmother lived literally on the other side of the driveway! Now I had to share my parents AND my grandparents with this new little sister. It didn’t take long 
for me to see that she was a ‘force to be reckoned with’ and quite the little dynamo. She had all kinds of spunk and energy and once I realized she was here to stay we became great pals. The age difference made for some obvious challenges as there isn’t too much you can do together in those growing up years with a sister quite so much younger.
We moved from London to Montreal when I was seven and Jan was two. Learning to talk and moving to a French neighborhood made for interesting words coming out of her mouth. I’m told I was the only one who could understand her for likely a year of her life! I was finally getting the gist of being a big sister. I protected her and always wanted to be sure she was okay.
As we grew older, as often happens, we seemed to grow apart. I was a teenager and she was the ‘bothersome’ little sister who always wanted to hang around. By the we added a baby brother to the mix. He came along when I had just turned THIRTEEN.
Life brought us many challenges as kids, but we hung together and we hung tough. Then I left for the USA and college at 17, never to live back at home again. That left Jan in the role of ‘oldest sibling’ during some pretty challenging times for our family….but she was the strongest person I knew. She managed to keep it together, keep our family in one piece and never lose hope. She had to grow up way too fast, but in doing so she developed such strong character and amazing strength. I stood in awe.
We found as we got older that we grew closer together again. The age difference didn’t seem to mean anything and we just enjoyed being together, even though the times that we actually were together we often short and with long spaces between.
We both married and both became moms and this just served to bring us even closer. I was moving around with my Army husband and Jan stayed planted firmly in the Toronto area..always the one to provide stability for our brother and our parents. When our mom developed Altzheimers Jan then became the emotional support for both our dad and our brother. She was the one it seemed everyone leaned on…and in some small way I hope I was able to be the one SHE leaned on.
Our brother had a serious medical emergency that changed his life and again, 
Jan was there leading the charge to be sure he got and still gets, the best care possible. Then our mom passed away and our not too long afterwards our father was unable to live alone. You guessed it…he moved in with Jan and Rome!
All the while she was working full time as a High School teacher and then as a Vice Principal, raising two great kids and keeping the home fires burning on ALL FOUR BURNERS for sure!
Then our father died suddenly and that was such a sad time for all of us, but for Jan it was almost unbearable as she and daddy were so very close…but in her usual fashion she powered through and kept on keeping on.
Then SHE had a serious medical set back with not one but two very life altering spinal surgeries on her neck, resulting in the loss of her ability to drive and the loss of her job..and on so many levels the loss of so much of her life. No more hours at the gym, something she so loved. No more planning the dances for her students and running back and forth daily to see our brother. Now her life was pretty limited to being home and the transportation that others could provide. For most of us this alone would be enough to put us into a deep depression and leave us pretty angry at God and at life..but not MY SISTER. Sure, she, like the rest of us, has her moments, but she is a woman who never gives us, never loses faith and never let’s you see her sweat and she always looks amazing!
On so many levels she’s my hero! I could wallow in guilt for not being there for her during some serious times with our family and she could make me feel like I should wallow in guilt…but not MY SISTER..she always is the one to say THANK YOU…to encourage ME and to carry on. She’s strong and resilient and a woman of unbelievable strength and character. She’s a faithful, loving wife and the best mom around. Our kids adore their Auntie Jan as does everyone who meets her.
She may think her years of ‘making a difference’ are over, but far from it. Every day that she breaths air she makes a difference in MY LIFE and that of her family and her friends. She is loved by all!
I’m so proud that she is my sister. I’m so proud that she is my friend. I hope she has the best birthday EVER and many, many, many more!!!
Love you Sis!!!!
lookingbackandforth 
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