Matthew Lyle Landsman

My liddul sisters. They showed up as a pair/team in an Alberta spring. A good gesture by God to give Gordy and Vimy TWO girls after having gifted them four boys in a row.

I’ve come to know over the decades just how special the girls were to our Dad as he held them close, protected them, and held them to very high standards to be “ladies” and leave a good impression. I know too that our Grandpa Norman had a special place in his heart for this bundle of girls who’d arrived at once.

I can’t remember clearly how I felt about the girlie addition to our brood, but photos and stories tell me I was good with it. I was just a year and a half old when they came to us. I know I was too young for my older brothers to much care about their scrub sibling being in tow and a pest…so I imagine I made the girls my own charge and welcomed them.

And Momma had her hands full, and I know she doted over them, gathered matching outfits, did like hairdos, and spread her love evenly to these very similar, yet very different little souls. They had after all, arrived soon after Easter and in the time of renewal and thaw in our city to the north.

At the same time, I became a big brudder for the first time. I began being a young version of who I am today. If I’m ever told I’m a good man, a good brother, a protector, a soft place to land…then I have the addition of my liddul sisters to credit for those qualities. I won’t say I was always an exemplary big brother, but during the teen years, few people are exemplary of anything.

Over the years, I think I may have been a bit inept and unaware of the place of esteem Lynn and Lori held me in their lives. But I too believe that realizing this in retrospect and sharing as much should hopefully make up for prior digressions. Today, we are fondly known as “the unit”, three of us in arms against the perils and tragedies of life, and in celebration of the joys and well-earned validations. We are a tripod together, leaning on one another to give the impression of strength where there may be little or none at times. And if one should begin to falter, the other two stand fast and help faith to be maintained…After all, faith is believing in something that can’t be seen. Support and undying dedication is one such thing in life, and we possess it in bushels for each other, come what may.

My sisters rarely need ponder what to do when life calls to them. They simply do the right thing and most Godly without hesitation, and consider themselves later. When deliberating a calling to community good, they somehow fit in the needed efforts in on top of their already full plates. Dedication is not just an option, it is a humble call to duty and a thing of honor to be answered to and gifted to those near and far.

My sisters are sentimental, proud of those who came before, and grateful for all their sacrifices. They are kind, compromising, aware, and a grade above so many…They are in fact, the loving product of Gordy and Vimy in the sense of not charity, but in doing what is right, fair, and good. In the heavens above, our Momma could not be more proud, and likely is adding to her brag book there and sharing regular updates with the celestial gatherings there.

My younger twin sisters harbor a bounty of empathy for one another. I think they would do just fine if each had only the other to turn to, but I am fortunate they allow me into the fold and I have exclusive membership in the benefits of our little trio.

That I am proud of Lori and Lynn should go without saying. That I never cease to be amazed by their strengths and compassion is yet another wonder. I marvel at their pursuit of self-betterment to let them better serve and support their beckoning causes and life’s duties. In this aspect, they emulate our Momma and Daddy to a tee. “Whatever it takes” is the common the theme.

I’ve rambled on quite enough I think. And yet have hardly scratched the surface. I need to touch on their amazing parenting, their blind charities, and extended family with no ties of blood, but huge joining bows and holding fast of heart strings of those in need of family ties where others have failed them. My sisters are able of forgiving, of the essence of the Serenity Prayer, of knowing our true reward is yet to come.

But mostly my sisters are, put most simply and eloquently; best of friends. Not just to each other, but to me, and scores of others. On the table of life, they are salt of the earth, and the kind waters that are the tears, the sweat, and the needed rains. They’re the soft breezes that keep others aloft and the guiding hands in the darkest moments and fury of the proverbial storms.

They are the best people I know, and make the world a better and more loving place to be…Today I honor, thank, prop up, and send my love and unending Big Brudder protective love into the universe for all to know. My greatest gifts in life collectively include these sisters of mine, my parents, my loved ones too. But most present in my life on a regular basis are these wunnerful liddul sisters of mine.

Love ya both to the stars and back, your big brudder, Matty.