Sisters reunite through their love of books - books N clubs

Tiffany Colvin and Cashana Seales have a bond that's as solid as a rock. Estranged for more than ten years, the two sisters were kindred spirits, who grew closer to one another, ironically, because of their mutual love of books, which led each of them to join a book club and eventually reconnect despite living hundreds of miles apart. In spite of their obvious affection, the sisters can remember a time when their bond was based solely on faith and frequent conversations about whatever good books they happened to be reading at the time.

Tiffany's tale

"When our mother died, I was eight years old," says Colvin. "We were shuffled around from one family member to the next." During those unstable times, Tiffany depended on her older sister Cashana for guidance. When the family eventually split, Tiffany and a younger brother moved to Virginia with their estranged father, and Cashana, who has a different father, moved to Montgomery, Alabama, to live with an uncle.

The separation "didn't seem real," says Colvin. "We missed having a daily presence in each other's lives. The physical distance between us seemed so immense that our relationship was difficult to maintain." After more than five years, with little contact between the sisters, Colvin believed the bond they once shared was irreparably damaged.

"I always remembered my sister sneaking into my mother's closet to read her Harlequin novels. I wanted to be just like my big sister, so I tried to read them, too," says Colvin. Desperate, she tried to replace her sister with one best friend after another, but as she grew into a teenager, Colvin longed to reestablish that lost connection.

"I wanted Cashana to do my hair, talk to me about the birds and the bees, and just be there to offer guidance and support," she says. Six hundred miles away, her big sister was longing for the same thing.

Cashana's story

"Before my mother died, she worked long hours to make ends meet," says Seales. As the eldest child, her siblings were often left in her care, and Cashana's teenage years were filled with adult responsibilities. "Reading," says Seales, "was my escape from being a child-adult."

After her mother's death, Seales was afraid that moving to Virginia with her siblings would most likely mean the end of her teenage youth. "I knew I'd be raising my sister and brother. I loved my siblings, but I didn't want to be an adult anymore." At 14-years-old, Seales wanted a normal teenager life. Moving to Alabama was her chance.

In the years that followed, Seales often thought about her siblings and longed to see them. She would often escape into her one true passion--books. "Reading came naturally because my mother read all the time," says Seales. "It was her way of escaping from her problems, too."

Family reunion

As adults, Colvin and Seales began to call one another and visit each other occasionally as they began the slow process of getting reacquainted. When they discovered that they both shared a passion for books, they began talking about one book after the next, enjoying the shared experience of escaping into a novel.

"Siblings who grow up together share a bond that is strong and loving," says Seales. "That bond is lessened when you're separated. Sharing our love of reading gave us a familiar ground to regain the bond of sisterhood that had been badly weakened."

After reading Everlastin' Love by Gay G. Gunn, Seales wanted to expand her reading circle. She'd read about book clubs and had even tuned into a now-defunct book club show that appeared on BET. "I wanted to share my feelings about the many novels I'd read, not only with Tiffany, but with a group of people who had read the same story," she explains. In 1999, after careful planning and research, Seales formed the Imani Book Club, a 16-member reading group in Alabama.

Sisters in spirit

"Before she started the group, Cashana and I would call each other to discuss books we had read and our interpretations of them," says Colvin. "All she talked about was her book club." Colvin listened intently as Seales described her monthly reading group, Imani. The women in the group shared an amazing camaraderie and seemed more like sisters than friends. But when her sister began reading books outside of the ones they normally discussed and went on a club outing to an Atlanta spa, Colvin became jealous of the closeness among the members of her sister's reading group.

"Cashana's book club provided her with a whole group of friends with new perspectives to add to her book discussions," explains Colvin. "I wanted to share the same experience with people in my own hometown." Almost a year later, Colvin formed the Sisters In Spirit Book Club, based in Virginia.

"There is a feeling of sisterhood that members share. A closeness that evolves when you spend quality time together," explains Seales. "I wanted Tiffany to enjoy the same feeling of sisterhood that I was experiencing for the first time in my life. Being friends with other females. Bonding with others who could be a support system when we couldn't connect by phone or in person."

Because their love of reading was a passion handed down from their mother, Tiffany Colvin and Cashana Seales have dedicated both clubs to the memory of Betty Jean Colvin. They communicate frequently, sharing news about group activities and other information and growing closer in spirit with each conversation. Today, the sisters vacation together each summer and spend the Thanksgiving holiday together each year. Their book clubs help cement their relationship and their sisterhood.

"Growing up, we missed the bond that is shared between sisters because we were separated at an early age," says Colvin. "However, we've found a unique closeness through our book clubs."

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COPYRIGHT 2003 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group