Jennifer Garner; Jennifer Garner with sisters Melissa and Susannah.Photo:Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty; Jennifer Garner/Instagram
Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty; Jennifer Garner/Instagram
Jennifer Garneris “smashed in the middle” of her two sisters — and she wouldn’t have it any other way!
On Wednesday, Jan. 29, a date that falls between the birthdays of sisters Melissa Lynn Garner (born Feb. 5, 1969) and Susannah Kay Garner (born Jan. 24, 1975), the actress shared a throwback-filled birthday tribute to both of them, which she also used to express gratitude for her role as the middle sibling.
The13 Going on 30star, 52, kicked off the tributeInstagram postwith a sweet shot of the teenage trio cuddling up to each other on a boat, and followed the photo with even more adorable throwbacks of the tight-knit sisters throughout the years.
Jennifer Garner with siblings Melissa and Susannah.Jennifer Garner/Instagram
Jennifer Garner/Instagram
“My sisters’ birthdays fall on either side of this week, just as my sisters landed on either side of me,” Jennifer wrote in the caption. “Smashed in the middle, right between Melissa and Susannah, is where I belong—more than any other spot on the planet.”
TheJunoactress has taken on a lot of roles throughout her career, but this one — the role of “middle Garner girl” — is the most important of all, she previously revealed.
“Being the middle sister of these three girls is the relationship that defines me more than anything else,” she toldSouthern Living.
Jennifer Garner (left) with sisters Melissa (back right) and Susannah (front left).Jennifer Garner/Instagram
“More than being my kids’ mother … I’m first and foremost the middle Garner girl,” she added at the time. Garner is mom to childrenViolet, 19,Seraphina, 16, andSamuel, 12, whom she shares with ex-husbandBen Affleck.
In the same interview, the sisters’ mom,Patricia English Garner, also spoke to Jennifer’s role as the in-between sibling, tellingSouthern Livingthat “being the middle child, she was the clown.”
“I thought Jen would be a writer because she was always making up these little stories,” she continued. “She inherited that trait from my side. My mom was a good storyteller, and my brother was a pretty good liar. He’d tell me ‘Oh, Pat, there is no story that can’t be made better!' ”
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Susannah, Jennifer and Melissa Garner.Michael Tran/FilmMagic
Michael Tran/FilmMagic
The three Garner girls grew up in West Virginia with Patricia andWilliam John Garner, both of whom “let the girls do their own thing” growing up, their mom toldSouthern Living. And watching older sister Melissa do her thing is actually what Jennifer credits with her own career success.
“If I’m totally honest, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the fact that I have this bigger-than-life, incredible older sister,” theElektrastar toldThe Independentin 2009. “She’s beautiful, and she was valedictorian, got a 1600 on her SATs and was the head majorette.”
“I was just the middle kid, kind of looking for attention,” she added at the time. “So that’s what drove me, I think, to do things she wasn’t doing.”
But she also has similar admiration for younger sister Susannah. During her 2021Street You Grew Up Oninterview, the actress told hostKerry Washington, “My little sister’s a badass.”
source: people.com
