Sistering

My dad worked in construction. His English was really limited, yet somehow a lot of the construction words have made their way into my lexicon, and they are familiar to me. My very favourite of all the words is "sistering" - a term I've become intimately acquainted with over the past week.

When a beam or joist becomes old or otherwise weakened, another, new beam or joist is fastened to it to strengthen it.

As I was telling the girls about the work that needed to be done to the bathroom floor before any of the bathroom could be put back together, I explained the term to them. The metaphor is so apt and beautiful that I expected them to have the same experience of it as I had: one of wonder and understanding of the precious relationship between two girls. They shrugged it off a bit, as though it was a no-brainer: of course if your sister needs you, you'll be there to hold her up. D-uh.

Then I experienced it myself this weekend, not with real sisters - I don't have any - but with family of a different sort. While I was pretty happy with whatever state the house would be in when I moved, I was running out of steam. I was weakened and more than a little tired. And in what I can only describe as a whirlwind of love, friends came and swept through the house, seemingly leaving no to-do task undone. Those lovely people fastened themselves to me and made me stronger and helped me to keep holding on.

In less than 48 hours, all of the wood trim on the main floor was scrubbed (no mean feat!), almost my entire house got painted (two coats, thank you), trim was replaced on three walls, four rooms had their flooring scraped and removed, all of the garbage in my house and garage was taken away, many awkward or fragile items were moved to the new place, a new platform for my washer and dryer was built and secured to my ridiculously crooked basement floor, and a beautiful walk-in closet system was built (not assembled; built from scratch).

Today, the house is inaccessible because the floors are being sanded and refinished over the next three days. Yet I am at peace with it. The house is ready for us. Thanks to sistering. I'm still tired, but boy am I strong.