My sister's keeper

Recently I've come to realize just how important my sisters are. Growing up that thought never crossed my mind I'm sure, but now that I'm older I see just how much they mean to me.
I'm the middle sister. The mediator, the funny one, shorter than the oldest yet taller than the youngest and rounder then both. As I look back at us when we were growing up I remember a few fights, playing in the dark, and lots of laughs. Alison was mature and in charge of us 99% of the time. She could cook and clean the house, while making sure the kids were doing homework and playing nicely together. She made good grades and had a spelling bee poster to prove just how smart she was. ( Man, did I want a poster like that!) Alison was great at sports too, starter of the basketball team, great at point guard and awesome from the three point line. I played too but mostly fouled out in the first half, girls weren't allowed to play football back then. Alison was a pretty teenager, she didn't have to wear makeup, but I remember that ugly blue eyeliner she would wear all the time. She taught me how to wear makeup and stir-up pants with dress shoes (that was the style back then) She made a pretty good big sister. I'll never forget the day she told me that she had found Mom's pregnancy test under the bathroom sink and she was running away. Long story short she didn't and that wasn't the last pregnancy test.
Crystal is the baby girl, but she's no softy. I don't recall an early childhood memory when she wasn't frowning, or climbing on something just to take her clothes off when she got to the top. Crystal got her way most of the time or she made everyone miserable until they gave in. We didn't help matters much when we teased her about her teeth, at one point we called her predator but now her teeth are perfect, and I mean perfect. She started getting fever blisters on the end of her nose every year at christmas and we gave her grief about that too. No wonder she wanted to kill all of us. But she too is a pretty girl even though she could kick your #/*#$ if she wanted. She was a cheerleader. She could do any flip she wanted and taught herself how. Mom and Dad didn't have money to send her to gymnastics class, so she kept right on until she learned them by herself. I can remember the time she tired to teach me how to do a backhand spring and I almost ended up as a quadraplegic. She was the girl at the very top of the pyramid doing the scorpion pose. I was so proud to tell everyone she was a varsity cheerleader.
Now I want them both to know that I love them and I'm so glad that they're part of my life. Our mother was never blessed to have a sister, let alone two. God has given me many blessings in my life two of which are Alison and Crystal. I love you both and are so proud of the women you've become!!!