Who’s Frick? Who’s Frack?
Wait a minute... I’m Jack!
Then who are Frick and Frack?

My sisters, they’re Frick and Frack. When I was little, their nicknames were so confusing! I’d call Frick, Frack and Frack, Frick. They just called me Jack. I’m the youngest of the pack; still learning who I want to be. Frick and Frack are my best friends, sisters by love. They’ve been there for me when no one else was. We all have a love of horses that’s always growing. They’re the teachers that were once me, looking up to the sky and reaching for the stars. That’s why they’re the best, because they reached and never stopped. They were in my shoes and know my height. Frick and Frack told me what to do to get through my life as a teen. It’s rough; they were there and they know it.

I remember the first time they claimed me as their little sister. Standing side by side, Frick and Frack pretended to cry. “And so… We give you this as our little Jack,” they said and handed me a leather bracelet embroidered with “Jack” in bold. It’s my treasure; that leather and I  would never let it go. Frick and Frack would never leave, I’d thought. They’re the best friends I’ve ever had. They understand me and know what it’s like to love a life of horses. Why would they leave?

But that’s what they did. On the same day, they graduated from high school. Frick went to Cobleskill, and Frack went to the University of North Dakota. But before they left, they showed me they cared one last time. It happened so fast, but each second still feels like forever to me. That day when the grass was just a little too wet, and I urged my horse a little too much.

So he slipped, and we were falling until the ground smacked my back. My horse came down on top of me and then everything went black. When light came back I was on the ground. Frick and Frack were suddenly there right next to me. I’d never seen them so scared. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I’d said. “What happened? Why are you crying?” Now I see what they’d seen and know what they knew. Death had been so close and I’d been so clueless. All I’d known is that Frick and Frack were there and if they were, everything was going to be okay. Now it’s scary to think of, but comforting too. My sisters were there and they loved me. They didn’t want to lose me.

In college now they’re learning and growing into adults. They come back on breaks and sometimes I’ll see them. But it’s just not the same as it once was. I’ve grown older and wiser; I know more of what they already learned. So I’ll shed a smile and wave; I’ll say, “Hello, how are you?” I come to think of them with an ache in my heart that was once full, but the biggest part of me. They were my home. I know right now they would smile at me and say: “You’re becoming an adult now, you’re growing up. Stand up tall and ride your horse like that dreaded day had never happened.”

“You’re Jack, a part of Frick and Frack. You’re learning what they’ve learned, picking up your own tricks along the way. You picked up Frick’s bravery and Frack’s determination. You’re gaining Frick’s experience and Frack’s wits. You’re going to be like your sisters one day.” This is what I tell myself, and it makes some of the hurt go away. I remember the time I spent with them. And then my heart feels a little bit lighter. I am Jack; I am a part of Frick and Frack. We are Frick, Frack, and Jack.