My Sisters' Keeper

If you’ve looked to the left on this page, you may have read that I wanted a little sister—someone to watch out for. While I didn’t get one, I did have opportunities to help my older sisters in various ways. Of course, I could have done without helping one sister move a piano in and out of 4 different apartments, but that’s part of being a brother.

The first time I had to look after my sisters came during the summer I was 10. I've always had trouble getting to sleep, so when I was tiny, I'd sneak out of my room to watch TV from behind my father’s chair. When I got a little older (10) on non-school nights I would just stay up--and keep quiet. My dad got used to me staying up with him. Sometimes he would talk about the actors or director of the movie and eventually I could ask questions without that reminding him I should be in bed. =)

When my sisters were on dates, he waited up for them. But some nights he was too tired and told me to do it. Dad gave me specific instructions. When the boy’s car pulled in the driveway I was supposed to turn on the front light. One minute later I was to go out on the front sidewalk and look at the car until the sister came in the house. My sisters hated that! But when I had a job to do, I did it. Once I found out it annoyed my sisters, it actually became a really fun job. I remember standing on the sidewalk, arms folded in front me, just staring at the boys. That was so much fun! One boy offered me a quarter to go inside. A quarter? I was insulted for myself and my sister. LOL! I want to thank RML for reminding me about this story.

Edit: I removed a "PS" about a scary experience I had helping one of my sisters--it made the post too long.