Nancy: sisters are a shield against life's cruel adversity.
Decca: sisters are life's cruel adversity.

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family

There can be no situation in life in which the conversation of my dear sister will not administer some comfort to me.

Forget the garden rake. Remember that time you dived over the desk at that guy in moot court? Had him by the throat in two seconds flat, that's what I heard."
"You heard wrong."
"And they suspended you for how long?" Antonia innocently asked.
"A day. And I apologized. Actually I crawled like a slug and ate dirt," Bree said ruefully. "But that was years ago, and have I pulled a stunt like that again? No, I have not.

This was our last night. We only had one curtain call, Bree. And I thought they were going to give us a standing ovation, but no-o-o-. Do you know why half the audience stood up?"
"To get a head start on the traffic," Bree said.
"To get a head start on the traffic," Antonia agreed in indignation. "I mean, here we are, dancing and singing our little guts out, and all those folks want to do is get to bed early. I ask you, whatever happened to common courtesy? Whatever happened to decent manners? Doesn't anyone care about craft anymore? And on top of that, it's not even nice.

My father insisted that I and my sisters not be indoctrinated into any religion at any age.

Both within the family and without, our sisters hold up our mirrors: our images of who we are and of who we can dare to be.