The Sisters Giveaway that Deborah Raney, Beth Vogt, and I are currently offering (scroll down for info on that!) has me thinking about how grateful I am for my own sisters.
I’m the oldest, followed two years later by Kristen, followed two years later by Carrie.
I can’t imagine taking three kids this age on a driving trip of Europe for an entire summer, but that’s what my parents did. (My dad was a high school art teacher, which meant that he had a long break each summer.) In the above photo, we’re at a photo opp in the Netherlands. As charming as it would have been to dress like this daily, we didn’t. The studio provided the backdrop and costumes.
Our earliest years were spent in Riverside, California in the 1970s. Was there a better time to be a kid than the 70’s? Maybe, but I sure loved the time period in which I grew up. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread, rode bikes, and played Little House on the Prairie and Charlie’s Angels.
Back to Europe we went for another summer. Not only was this VW bus our transportation, it was also our lodging. We look so clean and groomed in this photo but, to be honest, I don’t think daily showers were much of a thing for us while camping.
A few years later my dad accepted a teaching job at Frankfurt International School in Germany. Our family moved there when I was ten and stayed for four years. My mom worked as the middle school secretary and all three of us attended the school. Our whole family would drive to school in the morning and drive home together in the evening.
Except for one trip back to the USA, we spent all of our vacation time during those years traveling from country to country. The above photo was taken in Switzerland. By the time all was said and done, we’d journeyed from one corner of Europe to the other.
We returned to our California hometown in time for my high school years. Do you remember when studios like Olan Mills would offer you one free 8×11? The three of us took them up on their freebie offer and posed for this ill-advised, big-banged, we’re-serious-because-we’re-trying-to-be-artsy portrait which is very reminiscent of the opening bars of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody music video.
We all attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Carrie and I both met our husbands there and, to this day, we live in Texas. Kristen lives in California with her family. Between us, we have ten children.
A glimpse back at these pictures reminds me afresh of the very best thing about sisters…. They’ve been there from the start and we experienced it all together. The California childhood, the summer in the VW bus, the peanut butter sandwiches, living in Germany, the big bang hairstyles of our teen years, weddings and pregnancies, so many holidays, every age and phase of our kids’ lives.
Most wonderful of all, they’re still there, walking beside me in this life. Invaluable.
Did you know that Deborah Raney, Beth Vogt, and I have all recently completed series about sisters? We thought it would be fun to put together a Fall into Reading Giveaway in which three winners will all receive a complete three-book series — either the Chandler Sisters series, the Thatcher Sisters series, or the Bradford Sisters series. To enter, click here or on the image below!
Did you grow up with sisters?
Becky Wade
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No, I didn’t. I had three brothers. I always wanted a sister. I had two sons and two daughters and it was so wonderful seeing their relationships with each other and as a group as they were growing up. Now they are still such a great friends and that makes me so happy.
I love hearing that they’re still great friends! I know they must add a lot to one another’s lives. There’s just something uniquely special about a sibling!
What an interesting life you’ve had! I also grew up with two sisters. I’m the middle one, though. Sisters are forever friends.
It’s so true! They were my childhood friends, my college friends, my young adult friends, and they’re my friends still.
Just loved hearing about your growing up years with your sisters, Becky! Thanks for sharing about the giveaway! It’s been so fun comparing notes with our sisters series. You and I both have a sister in our books named Britt, and Beth and I have a Johanna and a Joanna. And of course, none of us knew the other was writing sisters series when we started out, so total coincidences!
Great minds think alike! 😉
I grew up with two brothers, I am the oldest of the three and we are 15 and 13 months apart. Mom was busy! But I am blessed with many sisters-in-law, especially one from my husband’s side and one from mine. I now travel with one of them, as we are both widows. I had always wanted sisters, but this is pretty sweet!
How wonderful that God blessed you with sisters-in-law who are like sisters to you, Linda.
While I, too, am one of three sisters, I am the baby of the batch. The older of my two sisters, who lived in Michigan, is deceased, but the middle sister and I still try to get together as often as possible, which is usually once a year. She lives in Georgia, and I live in Texas. We do email or talk on the telephone at least weekly, however. We grew up in Richmond, VA, but we visited relatives in Michigan, North Carolina and West Virginia either on summer vacation or at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I love my sisters! And I loved the three sets of sister books you, Deb Raney, and Beth Vogt wrote!
Suzanne, I grew up in Richmond, Va, also, met my husband while in college at Mary Washington, then moved with him many places during his Marine Corps career, before choosing Virginia Beach after his retirement.
Thanks so much, Suzanne! It’s a treat to hear about you and your sisters. My sisters and I try to get together as often as possible, too. It’s not always easy to do so, but it’s always so worthwhile.
No, I have 2 brothers. I do have a sister-friend. We met in 3rd grade and are still together.
Oh, wow! It’s fantastic that you have a sister-friend who you’ve been close with all this time. What a blessing!
Yes, I grew up with three sisters, and I am blessed because of it! My dad was a Marine, so we were each other’s best friends as we moved from duty station to duty station. At one point we lived in England and like you, used any free time to travel in a camper all over Europe.
Because of those wonderful memories, I have written a manuscript (and working on book number two in the series) about sisters that I am trying to get off the ground. I am very new to the writing world, so finding an agent is a new adventure in patience for sure!
I enjoyed reading about and seeing the pictures of you and your sisters!
Good for you for completing a manuscript, Katherine! That’s an accomplishment that a lot of people dream of and never attain. Warmest congratulations!
Love your pictures and stories! You have a wonderful family.
I am the oldest in my family with a brother two years younger and a sister eight years younger. My sister and I have always been close, from the days she used to hang out with my friends and me listening to our rock and roll music and stories of teenage heart throbs to present day with our grown up children. We live two hours apart, but talk three times a week, and get together for special occasions, although hard during Covid.
I’ve read and enjoyed your Bradford Sisters series. Now must check out the others.
Betty, your family is very similar to my own! I have girl, boy, girl and the oldest and youngest sisters are eight years apart — just like you and your sister! I love hearing how close you and your sister still are. 🙂
I have one younger sister who lives not too far away. Loved reading your story and seeing the fun photos!
Thanks, Angie!
What a great childhood you had, Becky. I loved hearing about it and seeing photos too. What a beautiful family. I am blessed to have a younger sister. Sisters are so much fun.
I had a wonderful and unusual childhood! I consider myself fortunate to have seen and experienced so much as I was growing up. 🙂
What a fun post, Becky! Thanks for sharing your trip down memory lane with us.
Yes, having sisters is very special and I’m so blessed. I’m the youngest of 3 girls—my 2 older sisters are 3 years apart, then there’s a big gap before I was born. We are very close, and I love reminding them that I’m the “baby” LOL! 😉
The baby sister is ALWAYS the baby sister, no matter how old. 🙂
I have 4 younger sisters (from various parental configurations). I have found that even though we’re all different and all living in different places, it is definitely worth the effort to stay in touch!
I couldn’t agree more! I’ve always been willing to dedicate time, money, and effort to taking trips in order to see my sisters. It’s so worthwhile!
Becky, I always wanted a sister but got 2 brothers – until I was grown and married and had 3 kids of my own when my parents adopted my sister from Ukraine. She’s just 4 months older then my oldest. But, I loved reading your growing up adventures – at least you had a VW bus as transportation & accommodations. My Dad was in the military and we were in Italy and England for 5 years (in the 70’s) and Mom was determined that we see Europe too. So when Dad had vacation time, the 5 of us crammed into a VW Rabbit and slept in a tent each night as we explored Europe! And for dinners she saved money by heating up canned beef stew or spaghetti over a little Sterno stove.
I LOVE hearing about your travels. You’re right — a VW bus is roomy compared to a VW Rabbit! Frugal camping trips aren’t the most comfortable at the time but make for wonderful memories later. 🙂
Oh my goodness, Becky! Love this glimpse into your past with your sisters! How precious! What wonderful memories you have! I can see how you drew inspiration for your Bradford series from your relationships with your sisters. Love it! 🙂 I didn’t have any sisters, but I do have three daughters and feel very blessed with my relationships with them!
Yes! I absolutely drew inspiration from my sisterhood when I was planning the Bradford Sisters books. Like the Bradford Sisters, the three of us have a great relationship.
Yes, I have three sisters (and three brothers). They keep you humble. lol
Your parents were so smart to take you overseas to live when you were kids. Think of all those great memories! Love all the photos.
“I have three sisters (and three brothers). They keep you humble” LOL! They do!
I’m the youngest of my siblings. I have two sisters and a brother.
I have an older sister..she’s the reason I’ve accomplished anything cool in life. She’s always been a cheerleader and has always challenged me to do, think, and become better.
Your sister sounds wonderful, Teri! I love that she’s so supportive of you.
I also grew up in the 70s. Born in ’73. It was a great childhood full of happy memories!
I enjoyed your pics with your sisters. I had one sister who was four-and-a-half years older. We didn’t “play” together much as kids because she was a quiet-stay-inside-reader type & I was a play-outside-all-day type, but we are great friends now! 🙂
Here’s to us 70’s girls!!
I have one sister, three brothers, but just one sister. She is my best friend, my confidant, and my all around favorite person to get to be a fellow wife and mom with. We encourage each other, laugh with each other, and generally keep each other sane. Grateful every day for the gift she is to me from God.
Thanks to my husband and my parents in law – five wonderful sisters in law..
the loving, caring sisters I used to imagine as a kid. Christmas this year will be hard
My sister was killed in a small plane crash in 1980 when she was 32.
Five wonderful sisters .. ( in law, but that’s not important)
On my wedding day – a wonderful bonus – my husbands three sisters, his sister in law, and now another.
No childhood memories and photos – we met as grownups, but have the rest of our lives to share.