A Sister Who Stutters
Posted on: April 20, 2010
My sister Trish and I talked about how she felt about having a sister who stutters. I have really only had candid conversations like this with one other sibling. I never knew how Trish felt about some things. She was pretty honest. Actually, she quite surprised me with some things she said. She agreed to let me record our conversation, which also really surprised me.
I am truly beginning to understand the value of talking about the difficult things. Talking a little about my stuttering opened the door for my sister to mention other, harder things that we have shared, but never really talked about.
I will remember for a long time one thing in particular my sister said. “You had to take your stuttering with you wherever you went”. I never would have thought she would have given that any thought. She realized that we could close the door on other things and temporarily act like they weren’t there. But not the stuttering. It came with me.
Here is an audio clip of our conversation, which as I said, opened the door and made talking about some other things a little easier.
Trish’s perspective on having a sister who stutters (10.33)
I was really happy that my sister was willing to be so open. The more we talk about stuttering, the less difficult it becomes to talk about stuttering.
11 Responses to "A Sister Who Stutters"
April 20, 2010 at 10:39 AM
I think it’s really cool your sister is willing to talk about stuttering with you and be so honest about it. I enjoyed listening to the conversation.
April 20, 2010 at 11:04 AM
Thanks Sarah. I think its pretty cool too.
And even cooler is that the above comment came from yet another one of my sisters. Didn’t think she’d listen & comment.
April 20, 2010 at 5:46 PM
Hi Pam
I just want to say you have guts. I have never been able to talk to my family about stuttering. Not even my kids. When I went to my first conference I never told my kids why I was going to Boston. A neighbor friend thold them. i was divorced and living alone. I am to the point where I will say I am going to the NSA conference and they know what that is. But out side of that only a wise crack here and their. Thanks Pam for doing this. i posted something on my facebook page. Maybe now is the time to open up a little more?
April 20, 2010 at 8:22 PM
Gloria,
I remember YOU as one of the first people I heard who talked about advertising and being open. My first conference was Long Beach in 2006 and you were presenting at a workshop. (The advertising one? Maybe, maybe not that one, but one of them in my very first year. The advertising workshop where we went out into the streets of Long Beach really rocked my world).
You were nervous, and you had your friend Bob there. I was a nervous wreck, because I was still so so so covert.
But I remember thinking, wow, cool, she’s got guts and she’s a woman.
So YEAH, now’s the time to open up a lot. You have a lot to share with people, esp women who stutter.
Maybe sometime you’d like to write a guest entry on my blog, about why you have kept things quiet and how it feels to take those little steps, or why you use wise cracks.
Or do an audio with me!!!!!
Thanks for commenting – and being so honest.
April 22, 2010 at 9:00 PM
That is awesome that you can have a honest and compasionate converstaion with your sister. I don’t think I could do that with my twin sister ( I know I couldn’t):)
May 13, 2010 at 11:46 PM
I loved that. I had a similar experience with my sister, but she was the one who brought the subject up. She said that she was humiliated every time I opened my mouth when we were growing up together and I felt that she perceived herself as the victim….as if it didn’t occur to her that maybe stuttering was painful to me. This has been quite a few years ago. I asked other members of my family (l2 siblings) and they all reacted like “what? You stuttered???”…..the denial pattern you’ve probably also experienced. Later, they admitted to being very conscious that I stuttered and didn’t want to ask me questions. I used to find myself crossing my eyes and lisping ridiculously to draw attention away from stuttering. For years people told me they thought I was clowning around pretending to stutter, which relieved me a little.
May 15, 2010 at 8:29 PM
Just want to say what a great blog you got here!
I’ve been around for quite a lot of time, but finally decided to show my appreciation of your work!
Thumbs up, and keep it going!
Cheers
Christian, iwspo.net
Make Room For The Stuttering 
April 20, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Wow, interesting! Trish is quite a character, enjoyed the banter between 2 siblings. Perhaps all you sibs should listen to this, let them know.
April 20, 2010 at 11:02 AM
Or you could let them know! 🙂
Really glad to see you listened and commented. I appreciate it.