It’s early Sunday morning and my house is still resting.  I’m here doing what I love to do – sip on a little bit of Turkish coffee and scan emails and facebook.  The past week has flown by with the speed of every Xmas week, my sister flew in on Tuesday early morning and we instantly went into work-and-move-fast-mode.  We were raised to help in the house, to work hard and to complete our tasks.  So once we set out to accomplish something look out cause we ain’t gonna sit until it’s done!

When Nicole had her son Tylor I was still really young and just a kid, however I’d fly home and take over; doing her laundry, keeping the dishes up, playing with Tylor and cooking as much as I could.  I knew she needed a sister – someone to pick up the emotional slack that being a parent/mother carries.  When Tylor was old enough -9 years old he began to spend weeks on end with me wherever I was.  We’d learned from my mothers brothers and sisters how to tend to family and how to be generous not just with money but with our time and love.

Nicole and Tylor were here for Thanksgiving this year; they flew down from Ohio and drove home in a car Lee got for Tylor (nothing fancy – a used Mazda).  As they pulled out of the driveway at the end of that weekend my eyes filled with tears, as I wondered for the millionth time why we’ve lived apart for so long?

This past week has been another one, one really about being sisters and the admiration that we have for each other.  We are way beyond that competitive stage in life, where looking into one another’s life and comparing or judging is part of the reflection, now we just see each other and understand why we tick the way we do.  Nicole shows up for me and hops right in, taking over with the girls, running my house as if it were her own and giving everything she touches a drop of love.

Bella and Lola were so into Xmas this year it was fantastic, they were just amazing, calling Ana (their big sis) & Mary Alice my good friend “hurry up you won’t believe this -Santa has transformed the family room – we will wait for you!”

Christmas this year was all about tradition and we made my Grandmothers sauce – or as Grandma calls it “The Gravy”.  As we worked in the kitchen listening to Frank Sinatra, Pavarotti and Timmy Yuro it was as if you could hear my mothers laughter mixed in with my Grandmothers commands that NO one touch the sauce.  When we were kids we spent half the day sneaking pieces of amazing Italian bread and dipping it in the Gravy.  As we worked and played I thought about our kids and how important it is that they see how we are together, that these smells and sounds are part of their holiday – ’cause passing this warm know-how on has been the greatest gift we were ever given as kids.

Mary Alice, really a sister from another mother, spent the day playing and teaching the kids about their new gifts. By 5 pm the house filled with our people; by 9:30 Nicole and I loaded the dish washer for the last time and sat down for a recap giggle.

Last night we went to see Avatar, DANG it was great.  Moving in so many surprising ways, and it answered a question that I asked myself 2 years ago and am constantly asked “Why did we move to the Mexican Jungle.”  I was never able to clearly answer this until yesterday – “We were seeking a connection to authentic life.”  Our life in the states has lost it’s natural adventure; therefore disconnecting us from life’s source. For example life here in Nashville is so super predictable, my relationship with nature is limited – unless I head out to our ranch and hang with the cows and horses, but how many people here have second homes outside of town?  Another question: Before you sit down to eat your burger do you feel gratitude for the life of the animal that has lent for your consumption? Ding dang ya’llllllllll…..

My seven year old watched with us and said “This is like real humans are, they truly don’t understand that everything is connected.  If the rivers are polluted then the soil is polluted and if the soil is polluted then the animals are polluted and so are the veggies – therefore we are.” She is right, as we destroy the environment we are destroying ourselves – hence the rapidly rising number of sick people in this country and globally.

In Mexico yes, the people have everything we have, but the women still know how to go out in the yard, Forrest, jungle and find a plant that will help their bodies heal in some way, they still grow their foods on small farms, they walk places, their feet touch the soil on a daily basis.  Yes, Mexico is facing a terrible battle with drugs and drug lords however my faith is that they will overcome and not loose themselves and their relationship with life after all, they have a grand connection to the Mother.

I hear little feet stirring upstairs, meaning my alone time is coming to an end.  My sister leaves today, I don’t want to miss a minute with her;  so many things to still whisper to one another.  My mother used to say when we were little girls and fussing at each other  “One day you will be best friends and all you will have is each other.”

Well momma you were right and so here we are…