Today I dropped you and your husband off at the airport to continue your life across the big pond. It hasn’t really hit me until now that you are no longer in the U.S., much less, Tennessee, much less, Nashville. You would think I would be used to not having you here, not that it’s your fault. When I was 12, you moved away from home for college and now that I am 19, you’re moving on to bigger and better things. I cannot even begin to explain how happy I am for you.
I remember telling you goodbye when we moved you here to Tennessee for college. I quietly cried the whole way home in the back seat of the car while Mom and Dad argued over directions to get home. Eventually I stopped crying when you came home to visit for the first time, and I probably cried again when you left to go back. I don’t think I was crying because I was sad though. I mean, I was sad, don’t get me wrong, but I think I was more happy for you than anything. You were getting to live the life you had always dreamed of, and I couldn’t wait to be right there with you. Fast forward a couple years later and you’re engaged. This was yet another thing that weighed heavy on me for you. This was it. My big sister had found Mr. Perfect. Fast forward a little under a year later and you somehow got me, Mom, and Dad to drive 700 miles north to give you away, and it was this night that it finally hit me. You were still MY sister and MY best friend, but you had another best friend too, and he was going to be your husband (yet another thing I was most happy about.) About two years ago, I finally got the opportunity set in front of me to move to the same town as you.
That’s where our next journey began. In August of 2015, I came to Nashville and lucky for you, I was 20 minutes down the interstate from you. Lucky for ME, I had someone to cook me food like Mom use to, someone who had sweet puppies I could play with, and someone who had an extra bed for me to sleep in when I didn’t want to stay at my noisy apartment. Fast forward a couple months later and you are telling me that you’re moving across the world for two years, yet one more thing I was excited for for you. In that short time from finding out that big news to today, we’ve done so much together. We’ve sledded in the snow, gone to concerts, and quite frankly have probably seen each other more than we ever have in the last seven years. Fast forward to today and I am sitting at the table in your old kitchen listening to how quiet it is in the house, and for anyone else reading this, the house has been chaos the past week. Those sweet puppies are in my view out of the window playing in the woods (they’re doing okay if you’re wondering).
Essentially what I am getting at here is I think I’m going to miss you a little more this time. Maybe it’s because I’m older now and I’m going through a very trying time in my life. I know I can reach you any time I need, but it’s just a little different without you here. I honestly feel bad for people who don’t have older siblings. Who do they go to for advice and some uplifting? I just want you to know that I’m going to miss you so dang much, and I promise to hold things down here in Nashville. I can’t wait to come visit soon, and I can’t wait for more happy things I can cry about to happen.
