"A loyal sister is worth a thousand friends" -Marian Eigerman
Luckily for me, I grew up with TWO loyal sisters... jeeze, that's alotta friends! LOL. Anyways, I come from a family with 5 kids... Me being the middle child with two older sisters and two younger brothers. So with two older sisters, I've pretty much been stuck with being the "baby sister" my whole life.
First off, there's my half sister Leilani Lynn, who is half tongan and half white. When I was 8 (I think?) I remember my dad calling a family meeting for just me and my sisters, probably because my little brothers were to young to understand what was going on. But thats when he told us that he had another daughter. At first I was completely lost.... ANOTHER daughter!?! I wasn't sure which I should accept first, the fact that I have another sister? or the fact that my dad had a kid to another woman before he met my mom?- but I mean I was young, and it wasn't that big of a deal. It made me happy to know that I had another big sister. So after the "big secret", you could only imagine all the questions we were asking my dad about her- What's her name? How old is she? Where does she live? What does she look like?... and well...... after my dad had said that out of all of us she looked like me the most, I knew right then and there that she was an extremely beautiful girl. LOL :) hahahaha just kidding- you would think it too!
Unfortunately I didn't necessarily get the chance to "grow up" with her.. I guess you could put it that way. But a sister is a sister no matter what and I'm grateful :) She is now married with two beautiful daughters and is living in Arizona.
Then there's the eldest in the family... Precellia Nanuma, but we just call her Pumpkin. I don't know exactly how she got that name really, my mom said that its because when she first held her as a baby in the hospital, she had a big orange head.... like a pumpkin. Lol- What a sad way to earn a nickname right?! hah.
Even though she's technically my big sister, I'd swear she was more of a big brother than a sister. I would say she was like a second mom to me, but then I'd be lying. She was more like a second dad. I mean....... she walks like a dude, talks like a dude, eats like a dude, smells like a dude and even punches like a dude! Lol. Jk- but I wasn't kidding about the punching part. Lol. But out of all three of us, she was the tough cookie. She never seemed to show weakness in anything! Whether it was family problems or sports, she was always the strongest link among the 5 of us. Even though she's married with her own family now, she STILL holds both families together with how much strength she has. She was also the 'over-protective' one, every family has one.. right? I remember when I first started dating Robb, Pumpkin didn't like him at all. Not because she knew him (cause she didn't at the time. Lol), but just cause he was "dating her baby sister" and at that age I was too young to have a boyfriend. Which is understandable, but mind you this was when Pumpkin was still a junior in highschool and she didn't have a boyfriend till her senior year. Lol. So obviously she had something against all guys in general........... at that time. Lol. But anyways, I always felt sorry for Robb cause she was so rude to him! Lol- but like a good guy, Robb never stood up for himself. He just sat there and took it. Only because he had more respect for me and my family to not try and mess things up. I mean I would do the same also of course. But through time, Pumpkin grew to love Robert because of all the sweet things he has done for me and for our family up until now. So because I loved him, she loved him also. Now, I'm pretty sure she loves him more than she loves me! Lol.
Pumpkin has always been the backbone to our family and has always made sure that all her younger siblings were taken care of no matter what the issue be. She always keeps me laughing with her annoying text messages and her sarcastic remarks, I swear Pumpkin just has something to say about everything! Lol. Yep, thats my big sister ;)
Last but not least is my other big sis Brittny Maile, some people call her Britt but we just call her Maile. Lots of people always ask why we call her Maile and well........ to make this short and simple, her middle name, "Maile", came from my dads younger sister who had down syndrome, my aunty Maile. After my aunt died in '02, my dad made all of us kids call her Maile from here on out. He specifically said, and I quote, "If I hear you guys call her Brittny one more time I'm gonna whip you with the belt"- lol. Psycho right!? Nahh.. Lol- he just wanted us to use that name as a way of remembering my aunt :) So since then I guess, it pretty much replaced her first name.
I guess you could say that Maile has always been the "odd one out"- not because she's odd or anything, but just because out of all three of us.. she was the skinny, blonde one while me and Pumpkin were the short, thick ones. Lol. Also because of the fact that while Pumpkin and I looked like my dad, she resembled my mom the most. Friends and family members always said that Maile was the the different one- not in a bad way. But in reality, we're ALL a lot more alike than you think. While Pumpkin was the hard one, Maile was more of the "girly" one. I was kinda in the middle. She was the sister who tried to avoid conflicts at all cost while Pumpkin was the one searching for one. LOL- But we still would have a few arguments here and there. So I guess we may "appear" different, but if you were to sit in a room with us three. You'd see that our personalities just mesh (is that a word? lol).
Even though I bump heads with her the most out of her and Pumpkin, aside from all that bickering and fighting I have no reason to believe that she wouldn't be there for me not as a friend, but as a sister. Yes we fight and yes it has gotten to the point where we cut up each others clothes and her giving me a black eye! (don't ask. lol) But I like to think that thats just what siblings do... and at the end of the day, a couple of fights here and there can't even measure up to the value of sisterhood. I admit, there were plenty of times in highschool where I hated playing with her... not because I hated HER specifically, but because all I would ever hear at home was, "Why can't u play more like Maile?"- and I just couldn't take that pressure. My sister was an amazing volleyball player, and I just felt like I would never be able to be in her shoes no matter how hard I worked. But she motivated me to pull through all that stress during highschool and she taught me how to be a more aggressive player. So after she graduated, her motivation led me to try and follow in her footsteps as much as I can for the two years that I had left :)
Even though to some people (who are to remain unknown. lol) aren't proud of the things my sister has done in the past, I am extremely proud of her and how much of a wonderful woman she's grown into.
Both of my sisters have been such great role models to me and have taught me many lessons in life that help me learn to carry myself as a strong woman just like they have.
...I LOVE MY SISTERS...
