If you are anything like me, you couldn’t wait to go to college and get far, far away from your family. Independence. I craved it. I needed it. So why would I move to the same city as an older sister who has an affinity for giving unwarranted advice? Here’s the reality of it all: sibling relationships are so vastly different when you are both adults.
For one, it’s no longer a one-way street when it comes to taking care of them. I grew up as the baby of the family. I was used to being doted on, being told what to do, and being babysat by anyone and everyone. My older sister was more of another mother. It wasn’t until I moved to Boston that I realized sometimes my sister needed me just as much as I needed her. There was the time she left her keys in an Uber. There was the time she got long distance dumped via text. There was the time she wanted Sonic and knew I was the perfect partner in crime for blasting old music all the way down route 1. I’ve helped her as much as she’s helped me. Hell, what is family for?
She makes for the best escape from campus. She has a car, she takes care of horses on the weekend, and she’s a major foodie. If I need to get away from my friends. Or from the city. Or from too much work. Or the same old grilled chicken and rice. She’s always just a text away. I’m blessed by the occasional brunch or dinner. The trips to the barn are my favorite, even if she puts me to work. As true and intense introverts, we offer each other the break of being with someone, yet saying absolutely nothing.
I have a sounding board for those ridiculous ideas I never should’ve come up with. She’s known me my whole life, so of course she would know that tattoo was a horrible idea. She’s been through the stress I’m going through. She knows the ins and outs of my college. She’s helped guide class choices. Boy choices. Life choices. Thanks to her, I’m only half lost with this whole college thing.
I’m not 21 yet. Thank God I have someone to make runs for me.
Whether you’re contemplating living near a sibling, or just wanted to hear me go on about how much I appreciate my sister, I hope you got something out of this. And to my sister, thanks for making my world a little easier.