I Have a Sister!

By Bernadette A. Moyer

God gives us everything that we need and when we open our eyes to it, it all becomes so clear. I am an “O’Connell girl” by birth, the second born daughter of five daughters born to Bernie and Inez O’Connell. Although you would never know that I have “sisters” because they have not been in my life for about 25 years now.

Even as little kids I was the scapegoat and the “black sheep” my father favored me and my sisters clung to our mother. When dad left home so did my ally and I soon found myself on my own. And in that space of time I developed into an independent woman.

Our estrangement was over a child molester who married into the family, they sided with him and once again I was the “scapegoat” and the “black sheep” but it never bothered me, not ever. They have nothing that I want. My integrity in doing the right thing although unpopular has easily and always sustained me.

I never felt that I was missing out or missing something because I had replaced those relationships with healthy relationships. Today I opened up a friend’s weekly e-newsletter and the opening line referred to her “Soul-sister” “Bee” and that would be me! I had to chuckle and to smile while reading it. Not everyone would know that it is me, but I do.

I have a sister! I have a sister who has sisters of her own and yet still includes me. Her heart is open and loving. We are really comfortable around each other. We share a birth month and a birth year and we share our Italian and Catholic heritage. We are both writers and have a deep affection for the written word. We like our beach travels and good reads and that occasional glass of wine or mixed drink.

We are both madly in love with our husbands our homes and our children. When we are together the energy is always abundant and completely uplifting. She is the “sister” that God gave to me. And far better than any sister I could have imagined for myself.

Our relationship is easy and built on respect and love. At different times we have both been one another’s “911” call when family life was taking its toll or becoming a challenge. She was there for me and I was there for her.

Recently I read her book and I thought “that could be my family” it was about the history and the heritage of Little Italy in Baltimore.

The longer I live the more that I am sure that God brings us the people that are meant to be in our lives and He removes the ones that are no longer meant to be there.

It should have been crystal clear but today I had that epiphany “I have a sister!” And oh so much more … I have peace and love and all of it without the drama.

Bernadette on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer