Looking After- A story about the bond of sisterhood

The dynamic between sisters is something very special, something difficult to describe to someone who doesn’t have a sister to call their own. This type of bond is on display each day at Crestview Terrace where two sisters, Vickie and Pat, live as neighbors. From childhood, and into adulthood, they have remained close to one another.

Vickie was five years old when her little sister Pat was born. Vickie would end up being the eldest of five children, with Pat landing in the middle. “Our mother didn’t know how to speak English so she relied on Daddy to do everything,” said Pat. As children their mother was always very clear, each person in the family had a duty to the other members of the family, a way of life that would determine the sister’s steps through every stage of life. “Our mother always brainwashed us that you have to look after family. So that message kind of carried us through the rest of our lives,” recalled Vickie.

The family mantra, to look after one another, would become more necessary than ever when their father suddenly passed away, leaving behind their mother, a thirty-four year old widow with five children. Disaster would strike the family again, only seven months later, when their home burned to the ground. Now with multiple experiences of great loss, the older children took on an even greater sense of responsibility. Especially as they helped care for the younger ones.

One of the early examples of the pair’s relationship is when it was discovered that Pat had cataracts in both of her eyes as a preschooler, requiring multiple surgeries to regain her vision. In her recovery, Pat was given a little book where she had to do tracings to retrain her eyes to function properly. Their mother assigned Vickie to help her with this task each day. Vickie confessed, “I would take that little book and just do the tracing for her so I could go play!”

As they grew, the sisters developed polar opposite personalities with Vickie chasing big adventures and taking big risks while Pat played it safe. “I never married and I lived with my mom until she passed away.” At the time of her passing, Vickie’s mother’s voice began to echo in her head, saying, “you have to look after your family.” Vickie considered how Pat had never lived alone and instantly knew what she needed to do, it was time for the sisters to become roommates. Vickie remembered how the pair functioned early on in their grief, she laughed saying, “Well, I’m the older, bossy sister you know?  But now she is like 60 plus and she doesn’t let me boss her around!”

Once the pandemic hit, they decided they were ready to find separate apartments. Pat emphasized, “we were getting on each other’s nerves, you know?” They applied to live at Crestview Terrace in Bryan and were thrilled when they finally called with an opening, but there was a catch, there was only one opening, which meant the roommate arrangement would continue, at least for a little while longer. As they met with Liz, the community’s Property Manager, they expressed their intent to take the vacant apartment as roommates but hoped to get separate apartments eventually. Pat laughed while she recalled, “Liz asked about our preferences and I asked about getting an apartment next-door to Vickie.” Before she could finish, Vickie cut in saying, “And I told her, oh heck no!” Both sisters belly laughed at the memory as they continued to banter back and forth.

Now, both settled in their separate apartments, they have continued to benefit from having a sister who is also a neighbor. They both volunteer at the community’s food pantry and Vickie serves as the President of the Resident Council.

One of the pair’s greatest passions is the community’s “Love Closet” which is a system the sisters have developed where various household items are donated, then distributed to other residents in need. “We take things like pots and pans, blankets, or sheets...and I’ll wash them or stitch them, whatever is needed,” explained Vickie. “It is a shame when people are at this stage in their life but they are in need of basic items, so we try to take care of them,” added Pat.

The message their mother pushed into their hearts has seemingly rippled beyond family as the sisters are now leading efforts to look out for members of their resident family too.

As much as they enjoy making jabs at one another, the conversation took an emotional turn as Vickie said, “In all honesty, if she wasn't here, I don’t know what I would do.” This time Pat cut in saying, “Ok...I want that in writing!”

And now it is.  want