“Instead of her watching over me and protecting me, I felt that a lot of times I was kind of watching over her and protecting her,” Jamie said. “Going to the park, I would hold her hand and make sure she didn’t trip on anything.”

As the sisters grew older—and Sarubbi continued to excel—Jamie began to see her sister differently, a subject that she addresses in a book she wrote, titled ‘Through My Sister’s Eyes.’

“It went from me protecting her and having her follow me, to me seeing everything she accomplished and being in awe of her,” Jamie said. “Despite all the adversity she’s faced, she’s managed to be this amazing athlete and go to this amazing school, and she’s doing it all by herself.”

Jamie—a volunteer instructor at Windham—learned to guide and attended a camp with her sister last year. While the two will need more training to work out the technical details, it was clear that the connection was instant.

“[Sarubbi] said that when we first started out last year, we were at a level of being in sync without even trying,” Jamie said. “She said she never even had that after training for months with her old guide.”

Indeed, skiing with her sister is going to be a radically different experience than her time in Vancouver. The two will eat, sleep, and train together in the months leading up to the Paralympic Games. While both Jamie and Sarubbi agree that they are opposites—Sarubbi is outgoing and Jamie is the quiet one—the two are looking forward to spending time together.

“If we fight, it’s no big deal because we’re sisters, and we fight all the time,” Sarubbi said, laughing. “It will give us a chance to hang out and travel and have fun.”

Although Cathy jokes that she just wants her two daughters to graduate and get jobs, she said she is happy that Sarubbi will have a guide who is there for more than just the competition.

“Jamie doesn’t care about a medal or the podium,” Cathy said. “Jamie just loves Caitlin, and she loves to ski. She’s doing it for the right reasons.”

A FAMILY AFFAIR

If you ask Sarubbi about her experience in Vancouver, she will not talk about where she finished or how she got along with her guide. Rather, the first thing she wants the world to know is that over the course of 12 days of competition, she had over 30 family members come out in support.

“Those were the most nerve-wracking races of my career,” Sarubbi remembered. “Just to have them there, I was able to separate myself from being an athlete for a few hours a day. It kept me balanced.”

The Sarubbi family has supported her since birth, taking her to doctor after doctor and surgery after surgery. They remortgaged the house to go to Vancouver and rented a house at the bottom of the mountain where Sarubbi would be racing.

“It was never daunting to have to take care of her,” Cathy said. “She has accomplished so much; it’s daunting for my other kids. They have to work so hard to keep up with Caitlin, and they know how blessed they are, and we take nothing for granted.”

While Sarubbi was deciding whether to train for Sochi, her New York home was hit by Hurricane Sandy, and she flew home to help with the cleanup. Cathy attributes the family’s strength to her daughter’s remarkable survival.

“We lost a lot of stuff, but we’ll start over,” Cathy said. “We’re so thankful for what we have been given because we didn’t know if Caitlin was going to live the night, and 22 years later she’s pretty much a rock star.”