Almost a month ago, my roommate Jen and I headed down to the Southside Works to see a free screening of In Her Shoes. What had attracted me to the movie in the first place was not because it was a chick flick (personally, I abhor the run-of-the-mill chick flicks), but it was a movie about sisters.

Unlike many siblings I know, my sister and I have a relationship that more closer than others. We\’re only 14 months apart, pseudo-irish twins. When we were younger, people had trouble telling us apart. But as we grew up, I had the darker skin. She had a lighter skin. But like the movie, we almost had opposite personalities. I was submissive and quiet. She was the outgoing and loud one. I am still naturally more cautious, afraid to climb on rocks. Even now, I still walk down stairs very slowly. My sister is a risktaker. She was the atheletic one. In some ways, the more attractive and charismatic one. I was the smart and thoughtful one, but I lacked social skills.

In my most anxious moments, my sister would do things for me. She would ask the adult for something. A few years ago on a cruise ship, she was the one who gathered three other guys to be part of our \”gang\” for the following six days. And most of all, she would \”fix\” me. Do my makeup. Do my hair. Dress me (aka suggesting outfits). Things an older sister is supposed to do.

The thing that surprised me about other siblings was sibling rivalry. Even though my sister and I were different, we complemented each other in many ways. And as a result, I can\’t recall that many fights. I don\’t know whether it\’s because I was submissive that I let my sister take advantage of me. In our old journals, we did write many entries about how we hated each other. Yet, I can\’t remember any times we decided to draw lines between each other. Where we refused to share or had those typical sibling conflicts.

And then nowadays, my sister gives me her clothes that she doesn\’t want. I provide her with generous technical support. We both give out advice for our life struggles. And it\’s like that between siblings, we know our struggles the best. Back in May, when we were in Chicago for a wedding, I commented on my dad\’s relationships to his four siblings (him being the favorite son, the younger son). He said he wasn\’t close to any of his siblings even his twin brother and that he admired the relationship I had with my sister.

So in the movie, one sister says \”we\’re like a pair of shoes. One cannot exist without the other.\” Sort of like my sister and me. We have the same size feet after all too.