Wanted: One Sister
Watching the news this morning, I finally figured out the deep dark secret behind all my sorrows, insecurities, and failures: I don't have a sister. Obviously, my parents were short-sighted during their child-bearing days, or I might be President today. New research shows that having a sister , whether younger or older – even one who tattles, but also shares secrets and cookies – makes you a kinder, more giving person, an spur you to higher success, and generally make you happier. According to the study, adolescents with sisters feel less lonely, unloved, guilty, self-conscious and fearful Regardless of whether she is older or younger, a sister has a far stronger influence than parents on a person's mental well-being, and therefore on her success is life. Brothers -- of which I have two -- do not, according to the report, have the same effect; it has to be a sister. Neither, apparently, do eight years of successive boarding school roommates. I have to...