Who is your underwear sister?

“And this is my underwear sister.”

“I’m sorry … your what?”

“My underwear sister.”

I am sitting on the floor in a village in India surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colour, encasing a large number of women, all smiling at me and edging as close to me as possible. It might seem that it would be overwhelming or intrusive, but it is not. It is friendly and comfortable with these warm, kind and fun women who are incredibly welcoming. I am here for a wedding.

So far I have been introduced to most of them and so far most of them seem to be my hostess’s sisters … which is a bit confusing as I am pretty sure she only has three sisters, and I am also pretty sure that I met them all earlier.

“Wait … I thought you only had three sisters.”

“Yes, but these are my cousin sisters and these are my friend sisters … and this is my underwear sister …”

It is all explained very simply … an underwear sister is someone who you share everything with.

“Okay, that makes sense … a very close friend …”

“Yes, but more than that.”

I think about that.

How lovely to have an underwear sister – someone with whom you can share everything.

Someone so close to you, someone you can trust, someone who loves you, respects you, supports you, and doesn’t judge you, no matter what. Someone who has your back and your front and your sides too. Someone who is always happy to see you and who you are always happy to see regardless of what is going on in your life. Someone who has seen you at your best, at your worst and everywhere in between and they love you just the same. Someone you can laugh with, cry with, vent with, talk with, solve the world’s problems with, be silent with.

Yes, how lovely – I want one of those … hang on – actually I have one of those.

“I know exactly what you mean – your underwear sister!”

The women around me look at me fondly and my hostess with pride as she sees I have grasped the underwear sister concept.

As social beings, relationships are important for us. We need to have people in our lives that we can count on. Sometimes they are hard to find and not everyone will be our underwear sister (or indeed underwear brother, or underwear person).

It could be that there are people in your life that combined have the different attributes of an underwear sister and together they provide you with the support and love that helps you live your best life.

Whether it is a combination or a single person, it is a wonderful thing to have and to be.

As the festivities continue I get introduced to family that are family, brothers and more sisters who are cousins, family that are friends …. Everyone is friendly and genuinely happy to meet me. Over the next few days we eat, talk, dance, laugh, hug, share our lives, take photos – lots of photos.  

When it comes time to leave, I am touched when some of the women refer to me as their sister … not underwear sister as yet, but still .….