My Sisters

Last week my sister visited from Missouri- let me rephrase that, last week my sister came to New Jersey to see her fiance, and I got to see her a little :)

It's okay, I remember how it was to be engaged... I actually think she spent a lot more time with me than I would have when I was engaged. But alhamdulilah, we got to spend most of the day together on Friday, and we accomplished a lot. We ate at Josie's, my favorite organic restaurant, prayed at the 96th Street masjid, got lost on the subway and ended up in Queens, and most importantly, we found her a wedding dress...okay, so long as we're being honest, I found the wedding dress, then gently pressured her into buying it.

Spending time with my sister reminded me of a thought I had after my surgery. It has to do with this ayah from Surat Ibrahim, "And if you were to count the blessings of Allah, you will never be able to count them." [14: 34] I felt that it was a blessing that Allah (SWT) chose me to go through this trial, and not one of my sisters.

My oldest sister has young kids, and lives abroad, and I couldn't imagine how difficult it would be for her to manage.
My other older sister also has a young child, and recently moved to a developing country...I don't know if the doctors in the country she lives in are even equipped to provide cancer treatment.
My younger sister is engaged, and still has a year of school ahead of her. She's at such a pivotal juncture in her life, a hurdle like this could be crushing.
And my youngest sister is...well...young, and it's such a big burden for such a young person.

It is a blessing that Allah (SWT) chose to test the sister who, alhamdulilah, has a supportive husband, and no big responsibilities, and accessible resources.

That was my thought after my surgery. Now I think that I'm going through this trial instead of one of my sisters is a blessing not for their sake, but for mine; I love my sisters so much, it may have been much more difficult for me to handle if this trial had fallen on one of them.