Siblings – they’re like God’s way of saying, “here’s this person who will always be there for you, grow up with you, be by your side on the nights you get dragged places with your parents, someone whom you’ll love with all your heart, but also absolutely think they’re the worst person alive sometimes.”
I was blessed with two of these people – well really, they were blessed with me. (Hehehe) I’m the baby by far, my brother about 6.5 years older than me, and my sister about 9.5 years older. So my relationship with my siblings has been different than what I think a lot of siblings share – even different than what my brother and sister experienced with each other being only 3 years apart.
I didn’t always have a playmate or someone to get into mischief with, and for the first 10 years of my life I was generally regarded as completely obnoxious by Bethany and Kristofer. If I had $1 for every time I heard, “dammit, Tori!” I’d be living retired in a beautiful Parisian apartment.
But on the other hand, I had two ‘big kids’ to look up to and learn from. To teach me how to curl my hair and shoot a paintball gun. (Guess which sibling did which?) To drop me off at friends’ houses in their 3000GTs (yes, BOTH siblings had 3000GTs) and let me rejoice at my fellow 10-year-old friends say, “whooaaaaa that car is so cool!”
A sibling with a cool car is grounds for HUGE bragging rights when you’re ten, obviously.
Being almost ten years apart, my sister and I have had a somewhat tumultuous relationship, as I think many sisters do. But it’s been pretty wonderful over the past few years to feel us finally getting past a lot of the crap, or as my sister would say, ‘shit,’ and get to a place of a real, functional, loving relationship. It’s like, really cool.
It was even more cool to stand by her side this weekend as she married one of the most terrific guys I’ve ever known. It was cool to see how ‘into each other’ they are, as my friend Kayla phrased it. Like, they really like (and love, duh) each other. It was cool to stand at the alter with Ella and Aaron, my now NEICE AND NEPHEW, the two most awesome kiddos. It was cool to ruin the romance of Bethany and Rob dancing to Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud by drunkenly throwing myself on them and awkwardly swaying with them. And I can’t forget to mention the part where I banged my sister’s forehead with my own 2 or 3 times.
It was a perfect weekend. Except for maybe the forehead bumping.
I also gave my first toast ever. For fun, if you feel like reading more (probs not) I’ve included it below in this post.
I love you Beene Ganus. Pumped for this new adventure for you and Rob, AND adventures with my new niece and nephew!!!
PS, bonus shout out to my wifey/best friend Jenny, and life partner/creative soulmate Kayla for driving like 3 hours each way to be part of the weekend. #SquadGoals
Curiously,
Tori
I’m a really big fan of toasts or speeches that start out with quotes. Something to set the tone, get everyone’s attention, and create a fallback point or meaning to keep going back to throughout the speech or toast.
As you might imagine, most quotes relating to marriage and sisterhood are very, very sappy and cliche. And while I do love a good cliche, sappy is one thing I don’t love. But someone who enjoys sappy even less than I do, is my sister Bethany Ann Karlek Ganus. I did however stumble upon a kind of perfect quote, so let’s pretend I’m just beginning now.
“If you don’t understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child.” Linda Sunshine
I know, I thought Linda Sunshine was made up too, I think it’s like a pen name or something. Back to the quote. I could literally not have found a more perfect way to encapsulate my relationship with my sister. I love her oh so dearly, but MAN have we wanted to ring each other’s necks – probably tried to at some point.
There was the time in 1996, making me six and Bethany 16, that her beloved sheltie Alfie passed away. She’d just gotten home from the vet with mom and I climbed in her lap to comfort her. She was crying, understandably so, and said, “she was the best dog I ever had.”
To which I replied, like the little turd I was, “she was the only dog you ever had.” Bethany immediately shoved me out of her lap.
There was the time, a couple of years later, I was so mad at her, for what I don’t even remember, but my conniving idea for revenge was to dip her toothbrush in the toilet. I think I was 8 at the time. I eventually told her about it – like 5 years later. I’m actually pretty surprised she DIDN’T ACTUALLY ring my neck at that point.
Then at one point during my college years, I was home for Christmas break. We both went to make lunch or something, and there was only one piece of bacon left. If you know the Karlek family, you know bacon shortage is grounds for all-out war. She went for the bacon first to which I said, “I was going to have that!” She responded with “fine take it! As long as Tori gets what she wants!” And – now you must all know by now that I’m terrible at comebacks, so I was SO proud for this coming to mind so quickly – “well if THAT’s not the pot calling the cattle black!” Bethany looked at me and said, “it’s KETTLE.” *Sigh* story of my life.
But there’s plenty of ‘I love you dearly stuff’ too. All the times she french braided my hair, all the posters she helped me with for school because she was gifted insanely good handwriting, the shopping trips, the rides in the 3000 GT, her trying like HELL to get me into cheerleading to follow in her footsteps – really gotta respect her trying but come on, I’m the most physically awkward person alive. The time she went with mom and I to put Rascal down, and didn’t say, “she was the only dog you ever had” to me.
I love my sister dearly, and I’ve watched her fall for a few of the wrong guys, but it all led to her falling for the right guy. Told you I love cliches. My sister is beginning a new chapter with one of the most selfless, wonderful men I’ve ever known, and I’m getting a brother. AND the greatest niece and nephew out there.
It is beyond wonderful that you two found each other, and I can’t wait to watch you go through life and grow together. I love you guys.
