INTERVIEW BY Martha Thomas PORTRAIT BY André Chung
Truth be told, the Sorg family inspired this issue of “Her Mind” devoted to sisters. When attorney Linda Sorg Ostovitz accepted the Business Women’s Network Woman of Distinction award a year ago, her three sisters – and their father – were seated at the head table to cheer her on.
Three of the sisters – Linda, Joanne Witmer, a legal receptionist in Westminster, and Mindy Smith, who works as a nanny in Carroll County, shared 
coffee and the inimitable Sorg banter on a recent morning. Missing was “baby” Peggy Cermak, a former analyst for the FBI, now a stay-at-home mom – who showed up for the photo shoot, but had to leave early for family reasons. To each other, the sisters are counselors, shopping companions, entertainers, best friends and sisters.
Linda: We lived in a household where family was first. It didn’t matter what happened at school, we always had our sisters to come home to.
Mindy: The phone would ring during dinner and the person on the other end would hear laughter in the background. We laughed and carried on.
Joanne: During dinner there was always someone running to the sink with milk running out of their nose because they were laughing so hard.
Q Did you ever fight?
Joanne: I can’t remember a time when we fought. Everyone says it’s normal to fight; I guess we weren’t normal.
Mindy: We could all wear each other’s clothes, so the first one out was the best dressed in the morning. But if a piece of clothing still had a tag on it, it was off limits.
Joanne: You had to have at least one chance to wear it before it was fair game to all the other sisters!
Linda: It wasn’t as if there was a throwdown in the morning. There were just certain items that were popular. The reindeer sweater.
Mindy: The reindeer sweater.
Linda: My father had a reindeer sweater. It was all wool, navy blue, with white reindeer across the chest.
Q Do you still exchange clothes?
Mindy: We find ourselves buying the same thing. We get together for a party, and we’re dressed alike. With us, it’s a perpetual buy one, get one for me sale. Mostly at Marshalls or TJ Maxx.
Q You’ve stayed close geographically too.
Mindy: It’s Linda’s rule. We can’t move away. But we’re all in agreement with that.
Linda: The FBI wanted Peggy to be an agent. She realized they could move her to another part of the country. My husband said they could pay her a million dollars, but she’d never do it.
Q How often do you get together?
Linda: Gosh, all the time, a lot.
Joanne: A lot.
Mindy: If we’re not together, we’re on the phone with each other or we’re texting. It will start with one text, ‘How was your day?’ or something as simple as that, and 28 texts later, we’re still all clowning around.
Linda: Our father, who’s 87 years old, has a smart phone. He’s in some of those as well.
Q Do you know people with sisters whom they aren’t close to?
Joanne: I know a lot of sisters who aren’t close and they envy what we have. It is precious and rare.
Linda: There have been people we’ve taken in – for lack of a better term. Someone who is having a bad time, we say, come join us, come play with us. If it’s a friend of mine, my sisters will jump in. They may not even know the person.
Q Are you passing this closeness on to your own children?
Mindy: My children are 25 and 21. They won’t miss a family party. The cousins are super supportive of each other. We just don’t know any different. It’s hard for us to comprehend when we have friends who aren’t close to their sisters. How can you not talk to your sister everyday? It’s foreign to us.
Q So where does this family togetherness come from?
Linda: Grandmom reached out to people, and our mother was the most generous, kind person. They were always creating opportunities to be together. We celebrated everything: If you got a new car or a good report card it was a celebration.
Joanne: We still do. If someone gets a good test result for a medical issue, we’ll say, ‘Let’s get together and have lunch.’
Linda: Our mother would be so proud that we are talking with you and inspired you.
Q You’ve had losses.
Linda: I can’t even imagine dealing with losing (husband) Jim without my sisters. It’s been awful, but it’s better because of them.
Joanne: I always have someone I can go to, not just to support me, but to tell it like it is. They’re honest.
Q And you Mindy?
Mindy: I’m perfect.
(laughter)
Mindy: We’re each different. I try to make people laugh. If I can make one of my sisters laugh when they’re having a hard day, I can rest my head on the pillow that night. Linda’s more level headed.
Linda: Mindy is the breath of fresh air.
Q Can you describe one of her pranks?
Linda: I’m thinking of a Pez dispenser.
Joanne: There’s a Seinfeld episode with a Pez dispenser. At a quiet, serious event, Jerry puts it on Elaine’s knee. She busted out laughing and had to get up and leave. I thought that was the funniest thing.
Mindy: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Linda: Weren’t you at someone’s wedding?
Joanne: They were renewing their vows. It’s quiet and everyone’s listening. Mindy had put a little bridal veil on a Pez dispenser. We’re sitting there enjoying this quiet ceremony, and she takes it out of her purse and puts it on my knee. I started laughing and crying. Mindy’s laughing and crying. I’m trying not to be loud. My whole body is shaking, my face is covered in tears. I was a mess. After the ceremony, someone said, “The Sorg girls were really upset by that ceremony, did you see them crying?”
Q What is Joanne’s role?
Mindy: She’s the spiritual one.
Q And Peggy?
Linda: For years she was the baby, but now we’re all the same age.
Linda: Once, at a family event, my husband said to someone, “You see that over there,” it was all four of us girls. “They’ll let you get close, but you’ll never get in that circle.”
Mindy: A unit that can’t be broken.
Linda: Every time we’re together, it’s an opportunity to have fun.
Mindy: We don’t care where we are, what we’re doing. We sit around in the kitchen, put on music, then start dancing. Sometimes we sing into hair brushes, which we did today, by the way. *
