Sister day is a holiday passed down in my family. It is a day that celebrates having sisters. Today my sisters and I and my mom and her sisters participate in the event. The day consists of the sisters spending the entire day together and exchanging small gifts. This day celebrates the special bond that sisters have. My mom and her sisters used to go on a hike or camping trip for sister day. My sister and I used to go to amusement parks. Then we got our puppy, Bliss. Now she joins in the event since she is a sister. So now we go to parks or lakes so that Bliss can really enjoy the day with us. My mom thinks this tradition came from a mixture of Irish traditions, but other than that she is not sure of the origin of this tradition. I asked my mom what she thought of the tradition. She said, “I think that this really brought my sisters and I together. It really made us value each other. Having support from your sisters is invaluable. I love having their support when things don’t go as planned. They really help you out with things that parents can’t.” When I asked my sister the same question she said, “I love hanging out with you. We don’t always get along but I still love you. This tradition lets us put our differences aside and remember that we love each other above all else.” My sister is a political science and economics major. She plays water polo and is a member of many “fandoms”. A “fandom” is a group of people who follow, generally, a television show or a novel. Some of the fandoms that she belongs to follow shows such as Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service(NCIS). The group develops terminology that is only understood by other members of the group. For example, many fandoms “ship” certain characters. This means that the members of the fandom or just fans of the show want two characters to become a couple. My mom has a degree in biochemistry and a Master’s degree in education. She teaches math to high schoolers. She enjoys doing math puzzles and learning to code. As a result, she has collected an enormous amount of folklore. Predominantly from her students. Some of this folklore is unique to each niche while other pieces span multiple groups. This provides a unique perspective on folklore from these rather similar groups.

I love this tradition. It’s always fun and I love spending time with my sister. It is especially important to me now that I am away at college and I don’t get to see her as often as I want to. Many families today do not get along. We see it in television and music very often. Divorce rates are higher today than they have been in the past. Thus, I believe that having a day to celebrate with part of your family is really important.