April 10 is Siblings Day, a day in many parts of the United States of America used to celebrate the importance of siblings. It’s not a federally-recognized holiday, yet, but it’s still a nice time to remember and honor the brothers and sisters in our lives. In lucky circumstances, a sibling is our oldest friend, a member of our genetic family with whom we will often know and share the greatest amount of time of our life. Our parents will usually pass on before we grow old; our children will often outlive us. But siblings grow up with us, and influence us in many ways they may never know.
I have one sibling, a sister. Sisters Day is the first Sunday in August, but I didn’t want to wait that long. I’ve mentioned before in my blog how my sister nurtured in me a love for stories. Through example of her own stories, she taught me about things like character and plot. She was also the first person ever to read my stories. While I couldn’t teach her much, being the little sister, I like to think that we offered each other encouragement when one of us might have felt down for not being like more “normal” girls who liked concerts, clothes, cars, and boys.
My sister has always been an avid reader; she is, in fact, one of the most well-read people I’ve ever met. From science fiction and psychology to folk tales and philosophy, she will read anything, even the back of a cereal box! She just…loves reading. That love was instilled in us by our father, I think, who always put a high value on the joy of reading. He used to tell us to never let us lose our joy for reading. Once you lose that joy, it’s so difficult to get it back. To my sadness, I’ve discovered this is true, among my friends and peers.

Wheaties box ca.1937. Well before our time, but this is the kind of stuff cereal boxes used to have on them.
These days, I stay reminded of my sister with my favorite bookmark: an old Polaroid of her that I keep in whatever book I’m currently reading. When I open up that book each night, and I see her smile, it reminds me how lucky I am to have a sister who loves stories, and who started in me a love of stories, too.
Happy Siblings Day to you! Do you have a sibling with which you share a love of something intrinsic to you both?
What a lovely tribute to your sister. The mention of reading the back of a cereal box made me chuckle. I remember doing that all the time as a kid while I ate breakfast. Could you imagine if we told kids today that’s what we read in the old days? They’d think we were crazy. (They already do.) Then they’d return to their phones and search for funny memes.
Thank you, Carrie! She has been an ongoing source of knowledge, wisdom, and compassion for me. I’m so grateful I have her in my life.
There’s likely a meme somewhere of someone reading a cereal box for pleasure. I don’t have the photographic evidence of it, myself, but my sister definitely did it! (I did it, too, if I’m honest.)
Thank you, Wiki! I don’t have a newsletter, but you can subscribe to my blog at the bottom of the mainpage: https://bonusparts.com/wp/.
Your cats are very cute! I have a cat, too, who also is more popular online than me. It must be a cat thing. 😀
Thank you for stopping by!
I spent grade school reading several grades above level because my older sister taught me to read before I even started school. Both she and my mother are likely responsible for my love of reading over the years. 🙂
I’m sorry I missed this, JM!
Sounds like we’ve both been blessed by great big sisters! When I was little and my friends would talk about how reading was hard for them, I always wondered (in my childhood ignorance), “Don’t you have a big sister to help you?”
We owe a lot of unspoken, hidden privileges to the folks who instill in us a love of reading. Being well-read in any topic or genre is definitely a boon. 🙂