Catching up seems to be so easy. Abby is so much like us. She's just like I dreamed she'd be. For so many years I thought, "I wonder if she looks like me?" or "I wonder if she looks like Mom?" Well, I was finally getting my answers.
Those first few days were like a whirlwind. Abby and I talked nearly every morning and every night. Sometimes she'd call three-way or four-way with one of our other sisters.
It is always humorous when three or more of us get on the phone. For one, you can't get a word in to save your soul. Second, it's amazing to hear us laugh together. We have the same exact laugh...well..it's more like a cackle. Once one of us gets going, it is like a magical, laughing hex, and we have to begin laughing all over again.
She has the same sense of humor as us. How can someone, who has been out of our lives for so long (someone whom we've never even met), be so much like us? Are the genetics that strong? I would have to say, yes, they are.
My best friend in Florida kept saying, "Evy, her hands are just like yours and your moms."
"My hands?" I wondered. I never noticed my hands much before. I began to study my hands and tried to compare them with the pictures that I had of Abby and Mom. She was right. We all have this strange way of holding our hands. Upon closer inspecting, I noticed that my pinky finger does not close properly.
"Hmmmm...." I wondered. "Beth, you're right. Our hands are the same."
That got me wondering, what else was the same?
During one of our late-night telephone conversations, I asked Abby to Skype with me. She agreed to go on with me and we came face-to-face (as much as technology would allow) for the first time.
It was really quite astounding to look at her face. She looked so much like me...and Cathy...and Connie...and Kelly...and Lori...
It was just something about the way that she looked. She looked like MOM!
We decided to study each other. Which is quite difficult when you Skype with someone. That's because you tend to stare at yourself and all of your own faults rather than stare at the other person. So we began to pick ourselves apart the way that sisters and best friends do.
"Look at my thin hair," I said.
"Look at my thin eye brows," Abby said.
Then I said, "Look at my crooked, deviated septum."
Abby came back with a surprising, "Hey, I have one of those too." She showed me. We sat inspecting each other's crooked noses.
"It's rare to have those," I said.
Then I thought, "Hmmm...I wonder if she has one of these!"
I began to pull the hair back, away from my ears. I told her that I have these 'pits' in my ears that are very rare, and that only Mom and I have them in our family. Oh, and my son Mikko has one. I have them in both of my ears.
To my surprise, Abby said, "Hey! I have one of those too!"
"No way!" I almost shouted!
"Yes way!" was her reply.
She pulled her back, and she showed me. There it was, right there in the same place as mine.
"My son has them too, you know." She added.
I couldn't believe my ears ( no pun intended). I have gone my entire life and I have only seen one person with those same pits in their ears. I even read that only one per cent of the whole population has them...and Abby has them.
We stayed on the Skype until we were both falling asleep. We learned all about each other--from our aches and pains to the wit and humor with which we conquer our days.
She's amazing. She's my sister. She's Abby.
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