Sisters

in a photo studio in my home town...(me = left, younger sis=right)
photo taken in our elementary school vicinity ... (me with big hair, sis with her underwear peeked a bit)

Looking at these old photos, my sis, Imelda, and I laughed so hard particularly on seeing the second picture. My hair was naturally straight but I wanted to have a Shirley Temple curls style. I thought it was cute and I begged my mom to take me to the hairdresser. However, it didn't look quite even close...LOL! Instead, I think I looked more like a walking durian.

Anyway, I was born in 1966 and she was born in 1967. We're fourteen months apart, you might think I am lucky to have a sister so close in age. But unfortunately we were like cheese and chalk. She is named after Imelda Marcos, the former Philippine First Lady, as my mom adored her beauty when her husband still reigned as the president of the Philippines. Yes, my sister is very pretty. In fact she is the prettiest in the family, she is the tallest among the five girls in the family, she has dimples on both of her cheek when she smiles, she is a real head turner. When we were teenagers, she always gets a lot of boys looking at her and the boys most of the time try to get her attention. Even now she still get stares when she walks down the street, the malls, her workplace and when stepping out of the MRT. I am considered a plain Jane, even my boss didn't believe it when she saw us together at the airport. She said, "are you sure you're sisters"...I said...er...'she is actually a distant relative'... LOL! We have never been friends when we were young girls. I worked hard at being good, right and smart. She on the other hand took everything less seriously than me, but she could be very stubborn and had her ways whether you liked it or not. In short, we're two completely different personality.

Years passed and we had become increasingly distant, esp. when she got married and moved to Singapore. Unlike in Indonesia where she worked in a bank, over there she was a stay at home mom but often traveled to Bali to help her husband's garment business. To everyone else on the outside they appeared to be the perfect family. Unfortunately, he was not as good as what she thought he was. They eventually divorced. I felt symphatize with her problem and I was apprehensive about making a truce because she has no one there but her only daughter, L. She then managed to find a good career job in a Japanese electronic and electrical equipment's manufacturer. Secretly I admire her strength in a hard time, for being a single breadwinner, for juggling between working and raising her daughter alone, for being a wonderful mom. L, is a mommy's girl, she is very doting and always right by her mother whenever they have time together.

We began emailing and talking with each other more often, spent quality time whenever she came over to Indonesia or I went to visit her in Singapore. I realized despite our differences we had a lot in common. We've had our ups and downs but we are closer than before. I love her and I could not imagine a world without her in it. She is as beautiful person on the outside as she is on the inside.