I always wanted a sister. It seemed like the perfect deal; a live-in friend who was forced to love you and hang out with you. I didn’t really think about the implications of being a role model to someone else.
When I was 11, my sister Mckenna was born. A year later, my sister Stella surprised us, making my family bigger than ever. I quickly learned that all my actions from then on would be the textbook from which my sisters learned. My sharp attitude was nearly identical in Mckenna. My crazy spirit was woven into Stella’s personality. I also had to learn how to share a family life I’d had all to myself for over a decade, and that wasn’t easy.
The most difficult part was putting myself in their memories while simultaneously growing into an adult. When they were going to preschool, I was getting my driver’s license and wanting to go everywhere but home. When they were learning how to read, I was going to prom. Not to mention my level of teenage angst was at an all-time high and my parents seemed like the devil to me (they really weren’t).
When I went off to college, one of my biggest fears was being forgotten. I was afraid I hadn’t spent enough time with my sisters and as I became an adult they would just think of me as a distant, older sister.
I fixed this by calling as often as possible. FaceTime calls proved extremely effective because, like other children their age, my sisters were obsessed with technology. They found it completely amazing to “walk” me through our house to show me their new clothes, the fort they built and how they set up their rooms in my absence. It was almost like I never left.
I also made the most of the times I go home. My sisters could now do most of the simple activities older kids could do such as play board games, ride bikes and skateboard, and go see movies, so it felt like we had finally found an in-between.
Lastly, I try to set a good example in college. My parents relay most of the information I send home to my sisters so they have begun to say things like, “I want to go to USC like Olivia,” and, “When I go to college…”
In the end, I still have a small fear I won’t be as close to my sisters as I want to be. I’ll move out and graduate before they start middle school. I’m hoping my career will take me to D.C., so I won’t continue to grow up with them nearby.
But I’m also glad I’m so much older than them because I can provide a perspective my parents won’t be able to give them. In the times they don’t agree with my parents, hopefully, I can give them an outlet to vent.
Leaving my sisters was one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve ever said, but having kid sisters while you’re in college can prove to be a rewarding experience.
