Arresting Entropy

My sister jump-started my fitness quest last January. She hooked the jumper cables to my battery and revved the gas pedal and gave me a super-charge that continues to this day.

She arrived on New Year's Eve with my precious 4 year-old niece for a short visit to celebrate the holiday season and to have some family time.

Somehow, that short visit, intended to be a few days, extended to several weeks... and what amazing weeks they were.

My sister, seeing the disorder of my life and my household, set about organizing and cleaning. She would get up early, get to work, and not quit until late at night... some days not even changing out of her pjs! She was possessed. By the end of her visit, there was not a baseboard, heating vent, appliance or cranny in my entire house that had not received her magical cleaning touch.

She organized EVERY SINGLE STINKIN' ITEM in my ENTIRE house. I kid you not... one day I put a paper clip in the wrong place and she POUNCED on it to put it in the designated spot. We shopped for lovely organizing bins (I have an addiction for organizing bins!)and created closets and cabinets worthy of Martha Stewart. She MADE me go through my clothing and we took a truckload of clothes to Goodwill. (Haven't missed one single item!) More painful, she MADE me go through my books and divest myself of enough that the remainder would fit on my bookshelves. (We survived a little turbulent conflict over the books, and it was good.)

She cleaned mold out from under my kitchen sink. She turned cabinet doors on their hinges so they would open for better wheelchair access. She organized my toiletries so I would have smooth access to a better grooming system. She boxed up Christmas decorations and stored them where I would be able to access them this year without having somebody retrieve them from the basement. She scolded me for not doing a better job keeping my house tidy on a daily basis. In short, she helped me think through my life and sought to give me more control over my environment so I could enjoy living more and would hopefully be able to maintain order.

On day two of her cleaning/organizing frenzy, I jokingly told her that for every hour she worked, I would repay her by exercising faithfully for one month on my Nustep. (I didn't know when I said that that she would stay almost to the end of January, and I would owe her that "payment" well into my Senior years!)

Well, little sister, I haven't done a splendid job maintaining the order you created out of the chaos (although it remains TONS better than before), but I will tell you that the gift you gave me continues unabated to this day and the sense of well-being of having received such an amazing gift of grace and love and selflessness from you continues to propel me forward with taking care of me. You're battle and victory over the entropy of my house gave me encouragement to battle the entropy of my health/body.

Even though the paperclips might be in the wrong drawer and dog hair might be accumulating under the refrigerator since then, the re-ordering of ME continues on a wonderful path. Thank you, thank you, thank you, a million times, thank you! Love, From your Sister Who Adores You and Loves You and is Grateful for You! (Just don't mess with my books!)