As I thought about who to write about for this year’s Heroine Quilt, I realised that throughout my childhood there was one person who I followed and listened to, without hesitation: my sister. This wasn’t always smart. I once followed her as she jumped into the deep end of the swimming pool — neither of us could swim (luckily, my mother could). Not following just didn’t occur to me.
As we got older, I followed her to the hockey team and to a job at handmade cosmetics company Lush; I even followed her advice to study Classical Civilisations, a decision that shaped the course of my life for many years. Of course, as teenagers we used to argue and fight but even then I still wanted to be as successful as she was.
We have pretty different lives now, but when I think of her — her ability to make me laugh, her cleverness and keen perception, her compassion and her incredible work ethic — I know that she was definitely the right person to follow.
-Sarah J.