Pseudo-Sisters? Surprise!

Long-separated, not estranged

On a whim, I’d phoned Debbie to wish her happy birthday, for the first time in ten years — which put me one-up on her in that regard.

“You’re the sister I never had,” Debbie said, as we ended our call.

I was floored.

Though Debbie does have a sister, Susan — a Witch with a Capital-B — is not worthy of the title.

What stunned me was that, despite our not having seen each other this millennium, despite our having gone years without so much as phone contact, Debbie considers us sister-equivalents.

As for me?

Backstory: Debbie and I became friends in high school by default. We were fellow outsiders — euphemistically-speaking; read: losers, in the parlance of our peers.

Debbie and I were both ape over The Monkees (confession: I still am), apart from which we had no common interests. Our temperaments are opposites. Debbie makes mellow seem high-strung in comparison. Conversely, high-strung is mellow in comparison to me.

To be blunt, I found Debbie’s company tiresome back when, and as evidenced by our sporadic contact over the past 45 years, my feelings — rather, the lack thereof — haven’t changed.

And yet … perversely, I was touched by her words. Her presumption of our sisterhood served to make me reconsider our tenuous connection. I write this by way of exploring my emotions.

So, where do I stand? How shall I reconcile the discordance?

Oh, to hell with logic. I’m gonna take her love and run with it.