"What do you mean you're not coming?" Lisa asked with a hurt look in her eyes.
"Listen, do you know how lucky I am to have gotten a ticket to the championship game?" Andy said. "I've got friends who've already offered to buy it from me for three times the price. But I told them no way. I'm not going to miss the game for nothing and for nobody."
"But I'm not 'nobody'," Lisa said. "I'm your sister - and I'm graduating tomorrow, and it would mean so much to me for you to be there."
Andy shrugged. "Sister or no sister, I'm just not giving up the game. It's just too important to me."
Lisa wrinkled her face and stormed upstairs from the living room, just as their mother walked in the front door.
"Hi, Mom," Andy said. "What's for lunch?"
"Oh, lunch time already?" she smiled. "I'll heat up something from the freezer. Sorry about that. I've just been so busy shopping for Lisa's graduation that I've lost track of time."
Andy rolled his eyes. "Is it really such a big deal?"
"Of course it is," his mother said. "Any graduation is. But especially for Lisa. She worked so hard and is graduating with the second-best grades in her whole class. She would have been the best ... except for that time she missed from school last year."
"Which time?" Andy asked.
"Don't you remember? When you were in the hospital. It was hard for you to be alone, and I was so busy at work. So Lisa got permission to take those days off from school and stay with you."
Andy nodded as his mother went on.
"It was right before her mid-term tests, and she missed a lot of important review classes that would have helped her get better grades."
"Really?" Andy said. "I didn't know that."
"Uh, huh. I was actually surprised that she did it - it couldn't have been an easy choice," his mom said. "As you know, doing well in school is so important to her, unlike someone else we both know." Andy blushed. "I didn't even ask her to take the time off," his mother added, shaking her head. "She volunteered and just said, 'Family comes first.' Anyway, what would you like me to make you for lunch, frozen pizza or ... hey, where are you going?" she asked, as Andy turned and headed toward the door.
"Oh, um ... I've just got this ticket I have to go sell to my friend," Andy said. "Be back soon. By the way, do you happen to know where my good suit is ... you know, to wear to the graduation?"
As Andy walked out the door, he realized that while he wasn't much of a student like his sister was, he'd just learned a big lesson from her on what's really important in life.
