Sisters

Before I wrote a blog, before I dreamed of being a photographer one day, before I was a mother, a wife, before I graduated college or fell in love or made it through highschool, before I learned to drive or cried over my first boy or liked to go shopping, before I played my first sport or learned to ride a bike or made my first friend, before I had my first day of school, or knew my favorite color or favorite food, before I have many memories at all, I had a sister. 

That chubby little blonde haired blue eyed baby girl was my real live baby doll, who first gave me a taste of what it would one day be like to be a mommy. We learned to play, we learned to fight, we learned to make up, we figured out how to navigate jealousy and sharing attention and working out arguments, we shared a bedroom and clothes and late night giggles. We vented, we contemplated, we solved, we rested... I'm pretty sure there's no one in the world quite like a sister. They not only know the woman you became, but they know why you became that woman too. Those sweet memories of childhood and life shaping moments and first impressions are only shared with a few. And your sister is one of them. 

Today my sister set out on the next part of the amazing story of her life. She has left before, for college, but she graduated in three years and came back, and she lived with my parents again for the last year and a half. Somehow the fact that she was still there made it feel like our childhood sister chapter wasn't quite over yet. This morning I hugged her goodbye, drove down the road and parked my van. Then I watched her climb into a packed car and back out of my parent's driveway for the last time of it being "her house." I'm so proud of her and so excited for her. And I'll miss her so much.

Digital photos didn't enter our world very big until 2005. But the following are some of my favorites from the past nine years. 

So many adventures: 

One of her homecomings. I was always the hairdresser. 

My graduation from college:

Fellow Hopskotchy:

More adventures:

My bachelorette party. 

My Rehearsal Dinner: 

Being sisters:

Morning of my wedding day:

In our major Colbie Caillat era: 

Hopskotches Forever. 

Posing like you can only with a sister. :) 

The night of my baby shower for Drew. And other stories. Like going to the er and stories about long walks in the woods... 

The night before I had my first baby. 

The kinds of things that went back and forth in the mail while Nan was at Liberty. 

More adventures. 

Always with our tea and coffee... This time in an RV. 

Girls weekend in Connecticut. Pregnant with my second baby... 

Formal Hospskotches.

Baby sister graduates college. 

Easter:

Thanksgiving:

Pregnant with my third baby:

Still little girls at heart... Just grown up now. 

Last girls outing before she left today. Again with coffee and tea. 

 Saying goodbye:

Watching her drive away. Funny how foggy it was this morning... I know this is probably just sentimental me making metaphors out of anything, but I was crying and watching her leave and as she pulled out and drove into the fog it felt like how I feel. I know that she's going to be within driving distance away (5 hrs). I know that we will still call and talk and stay in touch. I know that I will see her on our beach vacation this summer. But there's just lots of unknowns this time too. I don't know when/if we will live within "drop-in" distance of each other again. Spontaneity has always been such a fun part of our relationship and we will have to be better at planning things out ahead of time to see each other now. I know it will work, and it will be fine, and we will figure out how to make the distance seem small. But it was still hard watching her drive into the fog. 

"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."  

-Marion C. Garretty

"What's the good of news if you haven't a sister to share it with?"  

-Jenny DeVries

"If your sister is in a tearing hurry to go out and cannot catch your eye, she's wearing your best sweater."  

-Pam Brown

"The mildest, drowsiest sister has been known to turn tiger if her sibling is in trouble."  

-Clara Ortega

And my favorite:

"To the outside world we all grow old.  But not to brothers and sisters.  We know each other as we always were.  We know each other's hearts.  We share private family jokes.  We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys.  We live outside the touch of time."  

-Clara Ortega