I had to write a definition paper for college writing this past week and so I decided to define the word "sister". Tabitha said I should make people cry with it but I'm afraid it's not very tear-worthy, sadly enough. But anyways, here it is for now.

My Sister, My Friend

      sis·ter n.  1. A female having the same parents as another or one parent in common with another. While Webster may define the word “sister” this way, I know there are far more ways than this to define the word.  A sister isn’t just someone who happens to have the same parents (or parent) as you do. A real sister is so much more.

      A sister is someone who will always be there for you. A best friend who makes other best friends seem ever so slightly less “best”.  You can have little fights with sisters knowing even if you don’t speak for five minutes, it won’t be too long before the silence ends. There are far too many things you will need to say to her after those five minutes are up. I rarely get into real arguments with my sisters, but when I do, they are forgotten before an hour has passed. It’s just the way we work.

     A sister is someone who can take you back to when you were little to remind you that sometimes you should still act like you’re seven. As Clara Ortega put it, “To the outside world we all grow old. But not to sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family grief and joys. We live outside the touch of time.”  You should always have someone in your life who can do this for you.

     A sister is someone who will tell you the truth. She’ll tell you if you’re being stupid and try to help you figure out the smart thing to do. She’ll tell you if you’re being obnoxious and probably hit you for being that way. She’ll tell you if you’re doing the right thing, even if the right thing looks wrong to everyone else. Even though the truth often hurts, a sister should be the one person in your life you can rely on to tell it the way it is. 

     I’ve often wondered how people can make it through life without at least one sister. They’re the one thing that have and always will be there. You can be boring, annoying, embarrassing, sad, happy, or just your crazy self with a sister. She may be your best friend, worst enemy, or partner in crime, but in the end, she’s a sister. And for you, that’s the best thing she could ever be.

Today was super busy for me. I had an 8 'o clock class then an hour break. Then from ten till two I had chapel and classes.

Last friday Caleb told me the current jazz band piano player had talked to him about getting me to come sit in on some classes this year, maybe play half of the music next year, then be the main piano player the year after that since he's a junior this year. So I had jazz band at three and Brian (the piano player) took me and gave me a 45 minute lesson on jazz.

Jazz playing is not easy.

And he pretty much told me there aren't rules in it. That people with no sort of education kind of made it up and so it doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense. It can be pretty inconsistent. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep going. It looks really interesting and it would be good for me to know, but for the practice I would need to do, it would be really time consuming. So I'm still not sure about that.

I got done with that around 5:15ish there and then had praise band practice from 6:30 to 9:30. Only it didn't quite last that long, thank goodness. And now I have a dorm meeting at 10 that will last at least an hour. I'm a little bit sleepy right now. I have strength training class first thing tomorrow morning. That can't be good. But on the brighter side of things...I don't have that much homework yet!!

Oh and I made tortillas in my dorm for about 10 random people yesterday! It was fun. I felt like I was at home.