In between the distractions of bikes, tea-making, and dealing with a cold shower crisis, Ros, Ginny and Toni explain why they chose to spend a weekend with each other in a cottage in Clun in Shropshire . Ginny at 38 is the youngest of the sisters, and unmarried, "Going on a weekend away with my big sisters is a joy. It started because they wanted to get away from their kids, I'm the rogue element ... The key to why we get on is that we will put up with whatever the others are saying or doing, and still love them dearly for it."
Ros, at 47 is the eldest 'It's very relaxing to be with people who don't really care what you're like, how you behave, or what mood you're in - I live with 3 men, my husband and 2 boys, so its nice to be with my sisters ..."
Toni, the middle sister and a single parent says, "As children it was like being strapped together in a life raft - we needed to hang onto each other almost too much. Out of that has come a closeness. It's a relief now to me to see us being more separate from each other, and choosing rather than having to be with each other."
There were, in fact, four sisters, but the fourth committed suicide in her twenties. Although absent, her sisters feel that she's still present as an element in their sisterliness. The three remaining sisters know each other well now and are fond of one another.
People often respond with surprise to the idea of three sisters choosing to spend time together, and express the wish that their children will do it when they get older? Ros comments, "It's nice to go back to people who've known you since you were born, and get to know them as adults rather than as little sisters."
