Glow-in-the-dark paper stars that marked the memories of their shared childhood years, together…translated…
As my daughter left home for her college years, my younger daughter who is in middle school, also moved out of the bedroom she used to share with her older sister, and made the den her own bedroom, declared her, independence. After high school, my younger daughter would head to IKEA with her classmates, to see the designs of the living rooms and bedrooms, planned how she was going to, decorate her own home when she grows up.
"Is it okay, if I take all those paper stars off, and repaint the walls?", I'd suggested to remodel her and her older sister's bedroom first as the opportunistic moment came, to declutter completely. "NO! Those were the memories of the childhoods we shared!", she'd objected immediately to my suggestion.
kinda like, this...photo from online...
The paper stars they'd glued to the ceiling were glow-in-the-dark, back then, the two of them spent a lot of energies, folding those stars, and, arranged the paper stars into the constellation of Taurus and Sagittarius—the two of their, astrological, signs.
There were also, the large-printed writings of the alphabets and the numbers in pencil, the opposite of how it should be written, from the right to the, left, at the corner, there was, a Mr. Egghead with two black eyes, all of these, were my younger daughter, who's left-handed. When my eldest was born, my own mother, my sisters-in-law, surveilled her completely, to make sure, that she didn't, "make a mess"; but by the time my younger came along, I was the only one, and so, she'd taken the time when I wasn't watch her, started, "dyeing up the walls by the supper table", and drew the "first generation" of the "eggheads", said it was her dear daddy, it'd made her father really happy, and he'd, not scolded her for drawing all over the walls. Later, the graffiti was covered up by a repaint, and she'd, turned her attention into, her and her older sister's, bedroom.
Last week, my eldest came home for summer, didn't know if it were I who'd, shrunk, she seemed to have, grown taller, in a few short, months. "How did you paste those stars on the ceiling from back when you were too young and so very, short?" "We stacked the chairs and the desks to get us up to the ceiling!" "how dangerous!", I'd exclaimed.
"Someone is always on the floor, steadying it, besides, we're, all okay right now." her words reminded her old mommy that she's, stuck in the, past.
what the two sisters made when they were children togehter...photo from online
In the evening, my younger snuck to sleep in the bedroom she used to share with her older sister. They'd chattered until late in the nights, with the laughers. I'd told them to fall asleep soon, and turned off the lights, then, the stars glowed in the dark, and that was when it'd dawned on me, why my youngest won't let me, paint the walls.
Some of the memories, were theirs solely, I hope, after they both become independent, when they come back home, they can, recall the years of fun they had in their, younger years.
The love of sisters, completely indestructible by time, and, these sisters will stay close, because they'd been close growing up, and so, no matter what, where life takes them, they can, always have this room that they shared as children, to sleep in, and to, go back to.
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