kareina

My sister, going through more of mom's stuff yesterday found an "open in the event of my death" letter, which mom first wrote in 2005 and updated in 2007 and again in 2011. It mostly contained practical info as to her financial assets and accounts that would need to be dealt with after she was done, but it also contained a personal note for each of us. We each got a title "my adventurous one", "my empathetic one", "my practical one" and "my sophisticated one". My note said:

"My adventurous one. Always keep your happy disposition. It will get you far in life. Stay practical. I offer a special congratulations on your Doctorate. I am very proud of you. I hope your future brings you all you want in life."

My sophisticated sister says that hitherto she wishes always to be addressed as "Sophisticated one", though she confesses a bit of envy at my title. But then we all agreed that all the titles could apply equally well to any of us. Though it took a bit of convincing to get me to relate to "empathetic", since the first time I was made aware of that word at all it was in a sci fi/fantasy story wherein the person had the magical gift (or was it a curse?) of empathy and really, truly actually feeling what others feel. I, on the other hand, pretty much depend on the other person explicitly telling me their feelings before I think I might know what they are.