Like Sister Like Aunt

They frolic and scream, laugh and cry, snuggle and fight like a girl and her ever-present little brother. She chases and he runs. He hides and she seeks. They love each other dearly, but sometimes it’s difficult to tell who’s the 9 year old and who’s the 1 year old.

Bicker

Laughter

Anger

Love

Looking at them you wouldn’t think twice about their relationship and assume they’re siblings, but little would you suspect that she’s actually his aunt, exactly 8 years older.

Elham, my youngest sister is 13 years younger than me and 10 years younger than Sieda, our middle sister. So needless to say, Sieda and I grew up with the same childhood, being only three years apart. We were each other’s company for our tea parties and took turns being the seeker and sought after in games. We dressed similarly and had the same toys, crushed on the same guys, and experienced the same adventures.

Then 10 years after “us”, a rather random “she” showed up; our baby sister. But she was late. In life. She missed our Disney Land trip and Eids, our friends and our hand-me-down clothes, our cries and laughter. Our childhood.

Sieda and I are now adults while Elham is riding out her younger years. We’re too busy, too stressed, too not-in-the-mood for dress up and hide-n-seek all the time. We worried about graduating, graduate school, jobs, and living expenses while she’s trying to remember to always, always, always carry over the “1″ in multi-digit addition.

So much life between us.

We joke that she’s growing up as an only child, but with despair. It’s sad, really, as she was stuck in a house full of adults and hardly anyone to relate to.

Then Aiman was born -finally! someone to play with!- and she’s no longer the baby of the family. True, there are significant years between them, but she’s still a child and he, evolving into one. They say that babies connect better with children than with adults, that they relate on some magical level; a secret they share in their innocence.

Her nephew is more than a nephew; he’s her friend, her playmate, and the younger sibling she always wanted.

And to him, she’s simply the extra glimmer in his eye.

Elham and Aiman at roughly 6 months old

Note: This piece is meant to show how much Elham and Aiman love and relate to one another and not that we “neglect” her in any way. She’s shown plenty of love, but there’s something special between Elham and Aiman -that’s all I’m saying. Don’t take this the wrong way!