In years past, our relationship has flourished on social media, where photos of the four of us together garner engagement like nothing else. One year, my sister Tessa’s friend assisted us with an elaborate photo shoot for our mother’s Christmas present. The result bears somewhat of a resemblance to some other famous sisters, the Kardashian-Jenners.
My sisters and I have never been approached by a reality show producer or anyone other than well-intentioned friends who joke about how we should have our own TV show, “just like the Kardashians!” But thank god for the Kardashians, whose existence on television for 20 seasons are a perfect representation of what it’s actually like to have sisters, the good, the bad, and the hideous.
The Kardashians are a business, built from the cunning mind of Kris Jenner, but they are family first. While I understand the various critiques lodged against the individual members of the family, all of whom are problematic in their own ways, I am weak in the face of the strength of their relationships with each other, which are unshakeable, real, and the most appealing part of watching the show.
That the Kardashians are related isn’t quite interesting enough to keep me watching the show as I used to, but in the early stages of the pandemic, I caught the tail end of the 17th season, which highlighted exactly why this show is so compelling in the first place. Tensions surrounding work ethic had apparently been brewing all season, but culminated in a scene that felt so familiar that Tessa and I laughed while watching it from the living room of the apartment that we’d shared for ten years.
I'm sure, in her head, she spelled it with a k.