A Sisterhood Lost

My sister is lost to me forever.  Six months ago she sent me a text message at work that severed our bond.  Even if we were to rekindle our friendship, a friendship that seemed to me to be enduring and unbreakable, our sisterhood has been irreparably damaged. 

She is six years older than I am. Her fortieth birthday was nine days before the text message.  I am disgusted every time I recall that our intensely close friendship was terminated by a cold, impersonal instrument like a cellphone.  But what disgusts me more is the cause of the rift.

My sister was in love with a man.  A married man.  Our cousin.  I am not a strict moralist but I do believe every woman should have standards.  Nothing, not even a need for companionship, should make her stoop beneath her bar.  The rift occured because our cousin sent me text messages which we later discovered were simply blast messages to everyone in his phone book.  Messages such as: "Merry Christmas!" or "Happy New Years".  My sister was no longer in his phonebook.  He had severed their innocent flirting.  She believed he was attempting to seduce me.  She sent him and I a vicious message regarding what she believed to be a betrayal on our part.

I never replied to her text.  Our daily phone calls to one another (we live in two different states) ended abruptly.  I have dignity and pride and will not respond to ignorance.  But I am hurt.  Hurt that my sister placed a man before our sisterhood.  Hurt that my sister believes I would betray her.  Hurt that my sister questions my character.  But more than anything, I am disappointed that my sister's need for love, even at forty, took such a front seat in her life that she was willing to date a married cousin to fulfill her needs, even against the advice of her two sisters.  I am disappointed that she chose to end our sisterhood over a relationship with a man that would only lead to pain, not just for the two of them but for our families as well.

To my detriment, I am a proud woman.  I will not pick up the phone. I will not apologize. For I have done nothing for which to apologize. I acknowledge, regrettably, that tomorrow is promised to none of us.  And yet, that is a chance my stubborn heart is willing to take.

Our sisterhood is gone.  Perhaps it can be mended, but it will never be as good as it was.  We have discovered too much of one another's character in our self-imposed exile.  We have a sisterhood that is lost forever.