celebrating lives greatly full :: myra bierria

It is so thrilling for me to share a gratitude post like this... a post that - at it's core - is a love letter.  And the fact that it is a story of sisterly love, well that just hits me where it counts, as I too am blessed with a sister for whom I am deeply grateful.

Myra Bierria is another of these fierce, brave women I met in Oregon in June.  (You will be meeting several more of them in the weeks ahead!)  Along with Angela, she was my roommate and the three of us made up the BEST room at The Lodge. In our humble opinion, of course. I was drawn to Myra by her humour and her light. And by the way she spoke of her children with such love. She is truly a beautiful woman and I look forward to a continued friendship where I will get to know her even better.  Despite our distance.  OK, so maybe I'll have to plan a trip to Atlanta, Georgia next!

Myra, your post brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for being a part of this project.  And maybe in THIS life, we can grow old together, in friendship. 

 

 

I am truly blessed to have a good number of friends (very old and very new) that I hold in my inner circle, but there is one that I am most grateful for and that is my sister.  When we were younger, our older half sister gave us each a coffee mug that had “Sisters are forever and I’m so glad you’re mine,” painted on it and it has been our motto for our relationship ever since.

 

Over the years our relationship has ebbed and flowed.  As young kids we were super close playing and living in our real and imaginary world; as teenagers we fought constantly while trying to establish our individuality; as young adults we grew apart when she went off to college and got married; and as more mature adults we grew the closest we have ever been when I got married and started my own family.

Through it all, my sister has been a constant anchor for me.  I have always been able to count on her.  I am so grateful for the money and moral support she gave me when I was a starving student in law school and later fumbling my way through my first job at a big firm in New York.

 

I am so grateful for the support she gave me when I met my husband and decided to marry him even though deep down inside I was terrified of that level of commitment. 

 

I am so grateful for her being present at the birth of each of my children, because she knew how afraid I was. 

 

I am so grateful for how she makes each of my children feel special because she has so much room in her heart for mine as well as her own. 

 

I am so grateful for her showing me what a good mother she is for her daughter and how I should be for my children. 

 

I am so grateful for the courage she displays as a minority woman in a corporate environment that doesn’t necessarily nurture the type of success she has achieved, because it makes me want to do better and work harder too. 

 

I am so grateful that she never judges me when I screw up or come to her for advice, even though I have been guilty of judging her. 

 

I am so grateful that she has never given up on me. 

 

I am so grateful for her love.

 

I am lucky that God chose my sister, Mamie, for me.  I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without her.  I am so excited about the rest of what life will bring us and for the adventures that are yet to come! 

Thank you for letting me share this.