A few days after Christmas I was chatting with my wife and sister in law.
My relationship with my SiL is somewhat fraught, as I suppose these things inevitably are. They are twins, in spite of which they are very different and these differences lead to a certain amount of inevitable friction.
Don’t think I don’t like my SiL, we just have these friction points.
Anyhoo, every Christmas we get together with some of the family for a visit and gift exchange, and over the years I’ve noticed their cousin J is showing his age.
I suppose it’s inevitable, really. I mean, we’ve been together 25 years, so it’s not possible for him to remain the teenager that I met, a quarter century ago.
But I only see the guy twice a year, and I find the reality of who he is jarring as compared to the picture I have of him (as a teenager/young man) in my head.
I mentioned to wifey and her sister, man, J had aged, he looks 40, and SiL says, “Well, we’ve all aged.”
Puzzled look on ol’ Andrew’s face. “You guys haven’t.”
“Good answer. Now THAT’s the RIGHT answer.”
Completely unintentionally, I made SiL’s day. Seriously, I wasn’t looking to score brownie points, but after 25 years, my wife and her sister (excepting a few grey hairs) don’t really look different to me than they did when I met them.
Actually, they look better. Back then they were getting the treatment to reduce the scarring and other skin damage from the really serious teenaged acne they’d suffered a few years before.
Two weeks later I still get a smile from how happy I made them by saying that.
Pay someone a compliment, it’ll brighten both your days.
