The day my sister Stefanie left for college is a day I will never forget. I never thought I would miss having her around. It was so weird and new to me at the time to have a sister that was going to college. I didn’t know what it would be like for her and I wanted to know more about it. I was only in sixth grade at the time and the only thing I was thinking was,
“Yes! I get my own room now.”
I shared a room with my other sister, Allison, at the time, and she was taking Stefanie’s room. Considering all the times we had fought and argued, I didn’t think there was any way we could miss each other. We fought over silly things such as, who emptied the dishwasher and what show we would watch on TV.

Stefanie was another person to look up to. She gave me advice, helped me with my homework and if I had fights with my friends she would help me get over it. She taught me not to care what other people think and to not compare myself to others. She helped me to have more self confidence and be grateful for what I have.

The day she left, my heart seemed to peel in two. It was like a part of me was leaving me behind and forgetting about me but I knew that was not the case. That sunny, hot August morning left not only my mouth dry, but also my heart. It hit me then, I was going to miss her; deeply, sincerely and horribly. Around 10:00 the car was all packed up with clothes and tons of bins and drawers, and I wanted to go with her so badly. I wanted to see her dorm room and meet her roommate but there wasn’t enough room in the car for me and my other sister to both go with her and my mom. We said our goodbyes and hugged each other knowing that we wouldn’t see each other again for the next month or two. My heart pounded in my chest as she walked out the front door. I did not know what would happen when the door would shut behind her, all I knew is the sadness that awaited after she left. When she drove away I pretended I was happy in front of Allison but I was really upset inside. The rest of the day I imagined what her room looked like, the placement of all the things from the back of the car, how long it took for them to get all the stuff into place, and if her roommate was nice or maybe not so nice. I called her up when I figured she was all settled in and she told me all about her day. I was happy she had a good day and made some friends but a little upset that she was gone.

One day in October of sixth grade my mom had told me that she would pick me up from school that day instead of me going home on the bus. I was kind of shocked when she told me this because she never wanted to pick me up from school, but I knew not to question her because she probably would have changed her mind. When I walked out, confused, searching for my mom’s car, I saw my sister sitting there waiting for me and I ran up and hugged her. At that moment I felt like my life was actually back on track and not messed up and jumbled. I hadn’t seen her for almost two months and I was extremely surprised she was there. We spent the whole weekend together and I was upset when she had to leave that Sunday. It was hard as an eleven year old to have a sister living almost four hours away from you, when you are used to having her right down the hall.

Now that she is out of college and we are both older and more mature we don’t fight as often and we help each other out. We are now more like friends than sisters, we hang out together and we try to not fight over silly things like we used to but it would be weird for us to not fight at all. I used to resent the fact that I had two older sisters always teasing me and excluding me from things but I know that I was probably really annoying and I understand now why they did that. Having her away for a year really taught me to appreciate that I have two sisters and a loving family because I know some people don’t have that.