听力文稿 ( Transcript )
Their childhood was marked by bitterness and jealousy, but an unexpected sign of affection finally brought them closer.
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Welcome to the StoryCorps broadcast, in this episode, a conversation between two sisters. Melissa Wilbur and Janaki Symon, they are in their 60th now and close, but when they were children, their relationship was very different. Janaki begins their conversation.
How did you view me when we were children?
I never particularly liked you, I was highly jealous of you. No matter how bad you were or how much trouble you put our parents through, they still always talked about you. You were the one they were proud of and I resented that. What about you?
Well, I just hated you. There wasn’t anything about you that I could stand, you actually were able to do things that I couldn’t do. You did well in school and teachers liked you, you would * me, and I remember stabbing you with a fork. We would go to bed at night and you would want the door open, I would need the door closed, and I just, just hated you.
How did we come from this hate to where we are now?
Because I can’t even picture myself without you. After mommy died, I was planning to make amends to you, and I couldn’t do it. I wanted to with all my heart and I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t quite know how. I remembered exactly the moment that I fell in love with you. You put your arm around me. You gave me this spontaneous hug and kiss, then I was,Oh, my god. It was as if the last barrier between us was gone. Something in each of us didn’t want to give up on our relationship. And I’m so grateful because I have a sister who I really adore. And I am one of the luckiest people I know. I love you. I love you, too. And I’m very, very glad that you are my sister.
Janaki Symon with her sister Melissa Wilbur at StoryCorps in southern Monika. You can read more stories like this one in the new StoryCorps book, listening as an act of love, available now at your local book store, along with a companion CD of 20 stories from all across the country.
Major support for StoryCorps is provided by AT&T and by the corporation for Public Broadcasting. The StoryCorps archive is housed at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. Tune in to StoryCorps broadcasts Tuesdays on NPR’s news notes and Fridays on NPR’s morning edition. I’m Kendy Cimen.