Just the Other Day...

It was just the other day....well, at least it seems like it was just the day...that I started college. It was actually 19 years ago. It was also that first year in college that my littlest sister was born. She was a surprise - a beautiful, wonderful surprise that connected our family together.

It was just the other day it seems that that little girl clung to my wedding gown and cried for me not to leave. I remember getting in the car to leave and her standing outside it amongst cheering family and friends with giant tears rolling down her face and crying, "Don't leave!"

It was just the other day it seems that my little sister spent her first time away from Mom and Dad with her big sister and new big brother. We were looking forward to my 4 year old little sister's holiday with us preparing our little newlywed apartment with a cozy tent and child fun corner. We took her to our school where we worked, visited the zoo, and smiled with pride when people would tell us our daughter looked just like us! It would be the first of many yearly holidays with us.

It was just the other day it seems that a very young 6 year old came to camp where her sisters and brothers worked. She was the staff kid, adored and spoiled by her siblings who were all very in love with their little sister.

It was just the other day it seems that a sweet little almost 13 year old traveled with us to China to bring home our own little girl. She turned 13 on that trip and became the official "Auntie". Sharing that moment of becoming a mom with her there was very special.

It was just the other day it seems that she started high school and came to live with us. A very young freshman of 13 bravely took on her new surroundings even though she was a little (a lot) nervous. I remember that first night when all the students greeted one another and the staff. My eyes were on my own little sister watching her, hoping for her...anxious to see her find self confidence and find a connection with this place that all her sisters had attended and where I now taught. I wanted to see her make her own path and have this incredible experience.


It was just the other day that I stood at the front of the academy gym dressed in my faculty robes - something I had done some many times. But this time I stood there fighting back tears watching my little sister walk down the aisle. This little sister who had indeed found her self confidence and her own path. Pride and a whole heap of emotions filled me as I turned her tassel. My little sister...a passionate girl who has always fiercely protected her own identity...being a free spirit, loyal friend, kind heart, nutcase, worrier, devoted sister and daughter, and whole lot of other things. She stood there looking a lot like our sister Sara but being uniquely herself, too.


I just wanted to keep hugging her and hold on to that moment a bit longer.



It was just the other day...just last Sunday, actually...that I rode with my sister to her new college. I was half listening as she gave me a tour on our drive to her new dormitory where we were to unload her things and move her in to her new life....All sorts of images were floating around in my mind.






This was a whole new place and a whole new life. There were no siblings that had cleared the way for her here. This wasn't a school where she knew anyone. This was nowhere near anything she had ever experienced before.

I knew in her usual way she would act as if it was just a thing to do and all would be fine, but that underneath there would be a few uncertainties and fears.


That's part of what I really love about my little sister. Nervous or not, challenging or not, uncertain, uncomfortable, unanything...she still goes forward even when she is a little scared.



As the weekend came to a close I watched my little sister walking alongside my little girl....they seemed to almost be skipping along. It reminded me of a day... just the other day it seems... that I walked along showing off my little sister on my college campus. Just the other day.