the two towels

a friend texted me the other day asking me what christmas means to me, as she wanted input to be added to her christmas scrapbook. so i spent a better part of my sunbathing time thinking about it and came up with this thought. christmas for me, at least for the past three years, means having two towels hanging in my bathroom, instead of one.

i've shared a bedroom with my younger sister for more than half my life. our arguments would vary depending on how old we were. when she was three and i was nine, i'd get mad at her insistence of sleeping with a nightlight, as i cannot stand sleeping with the lights on. when she was ten and i was sixteen, she'd get a bit upset (although she'd never admit it) at the way i'd call our room "my room," thereby denouncing her fair ownership of it. when she was 15 and i was 21, she had our bedroom all to herself, as i spent that year living in bontoc, mt. province where i spent one year as a teacher.

for the past three years though, i've been without a roommate. my sister has been living in mindanao for the past three years and it looks like she'll be living there for a longer time still. and so i have been living in my room alone for the past three years. no nightlight to bother me, no weird music to have to put up with, no lights being kept on all night, no disarray in the bathroom.

but the drawbacks outwiegh the benefits of not having my sister to share a room with. no more late night conversations, not having easy access to a second opinion on an outfit i've decided to wear, and believe it or not, not having anyone to nag to pickup after herself in the bathroom.

if there ever was a sadder image that represented my sister and best friend not living at home, it's the image of just one towel in the towel rack in my bathroom. having two towels means that my sister's home for christmas, for having someone to giggle with at night, for having someone to tell my my shoes do not go with my jeans.

having two towels in the bathroom means my best friend is back home, and that'll we'll be giggling and acting like two year olds again. two year olds and eight year olds, i mean.