a little Sense and Sensibility

I have known these two sisters ever since they were babies. I am now one of those adults that says, "My look how much you've grown! It seems like yesterday you were just a baby in my lap!"  (Pah-leeze. Shoot me. I have turned into one of those gawking old ladies.) My husband has fond memories of holding one of them on his lap, feeding her ice cream and then feeling the faint warm rumble of a diaper being loaded. He also has memories of playing Candy Land with one of them, encouraging her to cheat while her dad had stepped away from the game. I have memories of going through American Girl catalogues with one of them, having no clue as to what the the big buzz was over the overpriced dolls. (Now I know.) Today, one is a junior in college, the other a senior in high school. Their youngest sister (pictured in this post) is as old as my son. I am so feeling my age. 

We visited a few weeks back and were out in the field behind their house. I insisted on the two of them joining me in the fading light so I could capture a sisterly pose. They were so kind to humor me. I am so glad they did. Look how beautiful they are!

I know one of them (the avid reader and English major) will appreciate when I liken them to two sisters out of Jane Austin novel. They really are two unique women, joined by the loving bond of sisterhood. They are Sense and Sensibility. They are Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, romantics in their own way, who will (I promise) find dashing young men who will appeal to their own sensibilities and sweep them off of their feet.  One loves literature and language, the other loves the romanticism of medieval history. (She even owns a longbow--pictures to come.) One will challenge your best game playing smarts and whip you in the end, the other will selflessly serve you up a tall glass of ice water and whip up a mean chocolate toffee brittle from scratch. If Jane Austin were still around I am sure she would find a place for these two in a novel. In perfect Miss Austin style, their stories would be told with all the smartness, humor, and romanticism that these two beautiful heroines deserve. 

I look forward to watching their stories unfold.