When my wife Audrey and I were in our late 20s, settled in Columbus, Ohio, her kid sister Becky came to live with us while starting college. Their parents paid us a small “room & board” stipend each month, so Becky wasn’t mooching. Almost 10 years apart, the sisters were not really very close – they had enjoyed different schools, friends, sports. Even their upbringing was different, Aud the first child of younger inexperienced parents, Beck the baby of the family with chill, experienced parents.
Audrey and I planned to wait for our early 30s to start a family. We had plenty of time and attention for her sister, and spare room. At the same time, Becky was busy with her studies and didn’t need much of our emotional bandwidth. It helped that Beck and I hit it off from the start, both swimmers, her at school and me at the gym.
When we were dating I had never really spent time with my wife’s “baby sister”. Living with her now was like having an excellent roommate. We had so much to talk about, and college was stimulating her interest in the world outside the town in which she’d grown up. It was kind of a blessing to have her around, because she was also an emotional resource for Audrey.