Riding The Bus With My Sister

“My sister (my sister! I boast to myself) maneuvers through the world with the confidence of a museum curator walking approvingly through her galleries, and, far from bemoaning her otherness, she exults in it.” 

Rachel compares Beth to a museum curator because Beth takes great pride and care in everything she does. Nothing is left to chance. She carefully times her days, eats and drinks exactly what she likes, and has a particular style of clothing and shoes, and nothing less will do. She is a woman who knows exactly what she likes and how to get it. The book opens with this impression of Beth, presenting her from the outset as a strong and independent woman, not a victim.   

“I did ride with her, and over that day I was touched by the bus driver’s compassion, saddened and sickened by how many people saw Beth simply as a nuisance, and awed by how someone historically exiled to society’s Siberia not only survived, but thrived.” 

Rachel’s experiences with her sister have not often been in such public settings. They have spent most of their time together in the family home, or at Beth’s first group home. She has not experienced a wide range of public reactions to Beth, so spending time with her on the bus gives Rachel a much better sense of what Beth encounters in the world. This view is both distressing and uplifting and will ultimately lead Rachel toward a great deal of compassion for Beth and all people with disabilities.