Kaycee: A Sister Like No Other

My mother always tell my four siblings and I that Kaycee, her third child and second daughter, was born in times of abundance. It was those moments our neighbors  visit our house to watch a movie, celebrate our birthdays or use our telephone for communication. 

I was seven years and seven month old when my sister Kaycee was born. I felt happy that time to have a sister finally, then later I was somewhat sad that I had to wait for her to grow up to play with her.

In school, I envied classmates who had siblings with one or two years age gap. They seemed so close to one another. In our family, I was four when I had my brother, seven when I had my sister, twelve when we had our second sister, then eighteen when our youngest sister was born. I feared bonding would not be possible due to our age differences.

“You’re kidding”, that was the response I got when I told someone I was in college level, while my brother was in high school, my sister in elementary, another sister in kindergarten, and the youngest was still a baby. We each were in a different phases in life to get along well.

Kaycee is our middle sibling. If my siblings and I all are going to nominate each other as a Best  Sibling, four of us would undoubtedly vote for Kaycee. 

I think because she has been supportive with each of us through the years. She knows how to handle each one.

Kaycee has this calm, yet observant nature. She learned to avoid the mistakes and wrong choices my brother and I had, and she is wise enough to teach the rest of our younger sisters with her takeaways in life.

She’s the most introverted, too. Because of that, she focuses her energy in loving us, her family, more than spending it with other people. She knows how to deal with each one of us based on our quirky personalities. 

My relationship with Kaycee is progressive. From being her caretaker when she was still our youngest, she became one of my students. Back them, I raised a high standard of excellence with my students and was known to be a strict teacher. I was more strict with my own siblings. She felt I was more of a teacher than a real sister to her

When I became a youth leader in a local church, she was one of the young people I mentored. 

All of my students and youth disciples are now gone, but what’s left with me are my siblings. Kaycee remains the most loyal of them all. She witnessed many events in my life as years passed by.

Because she was so quiet before, it was so hard to know what she was thinking. She always present herself as a “I’m okay” kind of person. Thus, there was a distance between us, not to mention I was a difficult eldest sister to deal with, too. 

I’m grateful that our relationship as sisters blossom into real friendship. There were a lot of factors that resulted into our closeness now. Today, we learn to open up more even when we are miles apart. Sometimes, she acts like the eldest sister, too.

During my high school to college years, I was not always at home. It was Kaycee who took care of our younger siblings. She did the role of a sister better than I did.

Kaycee is generous. It wasn’t because she was rich, but because she knows how to track and budget her money to make sure she can give to our parents and siblings.

Kaycee is also determined to make her dreams come true. Two years ago, a door opened for her to work in Japan. Her boss likes her because she is such an efficient and creative employee. Kaycee is now sending our youngest sister to college. If there’s extra, she also gives financial assistance to our parents, too.

Coming from a family who suffered from financial challenges, I thought I would bear the burden of providing for our parents and siblings. In the Filipino culture, adult children are expected to support their parents and younger siblings financially even when these adult children are raising their families of there own. 

Kaycee stepped up for the challenge, and told me I don’t need to worry about our parents for now. She basically freed me from that “responsiblity”. I’m grateful for her thoughtfulness. 

When my husband, children, and I moved to Cebu City, we discovered we were short in cash. So we borrowed cash from Kaycee. Without any delay, she lent us her savings to help us make ends meet during the transition to our new place. What a life saver!

Through the years, Kaycee has been this strong wall that we can lean on. We are so grateful to have her in our life. We are glad that she is doing well in her career, too.

Dear Kaycee,

I’m truly blessed to have you as my sister, and “I’m happy you can’t do anything abour it”, too! I’m grateful that we as Sissumz learned to lean on each other as years go by.

We miss you so much! We love you dearly. Please take care of yourself in Japan. I know it’s not easy to be away from home. Stay strong! Keep pursuing your dreams! Cheers to more years and adventures!

Happy birthday!