‘Christmas sisters’ celebrate ties

Every few minutes, a chorus of big, melodious laughter reverberated from a cozy corner booth littered in red gift wrap. The sound was high — not quite a cackle — but warm.

“Usually when we laugh, it bellows through an entire room,” said Teresa Leininger, 57.

At dinnertime on the first Friday in December, you’ll find Leininger and her three sisters talking and exchanging gifts at Black Angus Steakhouse in downtown Vancouver. Though it’s been decades since they parted ways, the sisters have maintained the tradition of having a meal together for 25 years. It’s a time for the Heroux sisters, known to restaurant staff as the Christmas sisters, to relax amid the busy holiday season.

After a few years out of their parents’ house, the sisters realized they were drifting apart as so many other siblings often do. Though they all live within 15 miles of each other, life pulled them in different directions.

“We decided just to do something, the four of us,” said Denice Nolan, 52.

They return to Black Angus year after year because the restaurant is accommodating about letting them unwrap gifts and stay for as long as they like.

Nolan gave her sisters ornamental glass that she bought recently in Ocean Shores. Janice Roley, 49, returned from Paris with tea towels for her sisters. Cindy North, 53, gave hand towels, embroidered with the sentiment, “A sister is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.” Leininger brought bouquets and silver tote bags.

The sisters grew up in the Five Corners area, where they spent their free time camping in the backyard under the stars.

“We had a very imaginative childhood,” Nolan said.

“We had to,” North said.

That’s because their parents struggled financially to support four daughters and two sons. Dad worked at Freightliner. Mom worked at Nabisco and at a factory, pulling guts out of chickens.

“My dad loved Christmas. Even with all the kids, he always made sure we had Christmases,” Leininger said.

Their parents’ effort made them appreciate the fruits of hard work. At a young age, the sisters started baby-sitting and berry picking to afford the things they wanted. All of the sisters moved out in their late teens and worked to support themselves.

For many years, the siblings spent Christmas Eve at their parents’ house. But, the tradition was uprooted when their parents divorced after 43 years of marriage.

Leininger, the oldest sister known as “the queen bee,” stepped in to hold the gathering at her Ridgefield house. Everyone’s there, including children and grandchildren. It’s chaotic and happy. On that day, the presents, the sisters say, are more for the kids.

“We appreciate what we have,” Roley said. “The gifts are each other.”

The holiday comes with a echo of sadness. Their father, Earl Heroux, died at age 78 in June 2013 from lung cancer. There were several scares leading up to his death, but it didn’t make the loss any easier.

“I had my arm around him, cheek-to-cheek, when he took his last breath,” Leininger said.

The sisters cried a lot together, as they had just two months prior to their father’s death, when they lost a nephew in a drunken-driving crash. Charles Heroux Jr., 26, was struck and killed in the Rose Village area while driving his pickup to see his brother, girlfriend and some friends.

“It was like Elvis Presley. He had the biggest funeral,” Leininger said.

The driver who caused the crash was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The sisters said the secret to getting along is that they’re good to one another.

“Once you’re in our family, you’re in it for life,” Leininger said.

Not to mention, she said, that she bugs them when they haven’t called in a while, because that’s what an older sister does.

If life sends the Heroux sisters any more challenges, they’ll still have the first Friday in December in the corner booth.