Siblings, Welcome Back Kotter, and Feuds Averted

I was talking with TLS's youngest sister last weekend. She and I are good friends--although had things been a little different, our first meeting could have been the start of a feud. Let me 'splain.


TLS and Youngest were always thick as thieves during their formative years. They were the self-proclaimed Sweathogs (can you tell we all grew up during the 70's?!) and Middle was left to be, well, the Middle. Back when I met him as a college-aged adult, they had outgrown the Sweathogs club, but were still much closer to each other than to Middle. TLS and I met at a university on one side of Texas and Youngest was attending one on the other side. When TLS brought me home for the first time--for his birthday celebration--everyone converged. Youngest came home from East Texas, Middle and her fiance (who is now her husband) from the suburbs, and his grandparents who lived down the street joined his parents to pack around the table to witness the first girl that TLS had ever brought home from school. It was just a teeny bit nerve-wracking, but luckily, my in-laws are very welcoming and I survived intact.

As a side note, after we got back to school from the visit, TLS came over to my apartment to "study" and found me writing a note at the kitchen table. TLS: "Whatcha doin?" Me: "Writing your parents a thank you note for my visit." TLS: "Ooh...you are so in with my mom." And so it was, since I'm still around sixteen years later. Moral of that story is that thank you notes can often win you extra points.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, had I not been there, Youngest and TLS would have hung out together the entire weekend. My presence definitely put a damper on the sibling togetherness. At one point TLS asked me if I wanted to go out on the boat, I said yes, and off we went. I heard later that the scene back in the living room went something like this:
Youngest standing at the picture windows watching TLS and I zoom away from the shore in the boat: "I can't believe it."
Their Mom: "Believe what?"
Youngest: "He didn't even ask me if I wanted to go."
Their Mom: "I know, honey, but it looks like your brother has found someone he really likes and he just wants to impress her."
Youngest: Sigh.

So, in short, we had the makings of an all-out cat fight--a close relationship being changed by an interloping girlfriend. Luckily for everyone involved, Youngest and I are more alike than different and we genuinely liked being around each other so that we could share the super-fantastic TLS instead of fighting over him.

So, thanks Youngest, for not making me feel like I was stealing your brother (even if that's what you might have been feeling at one point) and for giving me the experience of having a sister!