Sissy, where are you?

In her bare feet and her play clothes that may never be clean again, Berkeley charged into the backyard. She was extremely tall for her age and kids, as they were, always seemed to notice.

I called out to her to come in or get her shoes on. She ignored me, as her usual stance when pioneering in the backyard. But as the sun grew heavy on the horizon and the dirt became thicker on the bottom of her skirt, she finally yelled back.

“Mom… Mom” she yelled.

“What is it Berk?” I yelled from the kitchen window.

“Mom, where’s Sissy? Get Sissy!!”

“Babe, I don’t know where she is. I thought she was out there with you.”

The neighborhood was on a dead- end street and they had a depth of kids in the neighborhood to play with after school. There was no cause for panic as the girls played all over the yard, from the front to the back, and occasionally inside the house on cold days.

But then I just remembered that her older sister had been picked up by a friend for a birthday party before Berkeley came home from school.

Berkeley’s older sister rarely went anywhere without her. So, as I looked out the window and shouted that her sister would be home soon, but had gone to Maddie’s party, I could see Berkeley’s head drop. It dropped almost instantly and hung for a few seconds. Then I heard her ask, “oh... ok, when is the party over? How long will it take her?”

She was not always this inquisitive, she let her older sister ask the questions normally, but today, she was by herself.

Her slow walk around the yard continued for a few more minutes. Then Berkeley came into the kitchen. She sat at the table where I was stacking dishes to dry. She finally started to talk.

“Mom, why did Sissy leave me? “

“Oh Berkie, she didn’t leave you. She had friends she wanted to see that were from her school.”

“She didn’t ask me if I wanted to go or wait on me?”

The girls are only 2 years apart and did almost everything together. Berkeley did not understand that her sister would sometimes not be able to play with her. She didn’t understand that her sister had other friends that needed her as well.

This is when I stopped cleaning the dishes and sat down beside her.

“Berkeley. I know you and your sister are very close. I understand that until now, you and Sissy have done almost everything together, go to the park, go on cruises, visit grandparents, go to Disney World, and so much more. You were even in a double stroller when you two were little. But now, you are getting older. And that means Sissy is getting older too. Both of you may have different friends and enjoy different activities at school. And that is going to be fun and exciting. It also doesn’t mean Sissy loves you any less.”

“ I miss her already. And I love Sissy a lot.”

“She knows you love her babe. She loves you a lot too. She loves hanging out with you, and now she is getting bigger, she also likes to play with her friends sometimes too. And guess what…”

“What…” says Berkeley looking toward the kitchen floor.

“Now she will be able to tell you all about her adventures and you can tell her all about yours for the day. You guys will get to share 3 adventures. Her adventure, your adventure and when she gets back, both of you will start your adventure today together.”

“I like that... 3 adventures.. I can do that. Now I gotta go.” She gets up out of her chair and starts for the door.

“I am going to start my adventure. The first thing I gotta do, is get on the lookout.”

Then before I knew it, Berkeley was in the front yard, dirt in her skirt and still bare feet, looking through her “hand binoculars” for her sister.