Dear Younger Sisters,
As if you didn’t know, I am away at college. I, essentially, no longer live in the same house as you. I no longer eat the food you eat. I no longer walk through the same door you do after school or sit and watch the same TV as you. You don’t hear my music blasting while I’m showering and I don’t hear your feet scampering through the hallway as you run to your room. Despite all these things, I’m still there. Well, not there, but here. A phone call, a car ride, a text away.
We’ve gone through some rough times and we will go through rougher. Some of yours might be different than mine, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be there to help you through them. You’ve spent your whole life with me by your side and that won’t change. I have been and always will be there to tell off the person that was mean to you or stand up when you can’t, even from three, thirteen, or thirty hours away. There has never been a time where I haven’t protected you and there never will be.
The days of playing Barbies in the loft and dress up in the basement are over. We’re not going to wake up on the futon in the middle of the night to play Crash Bandicoot or Super Mario Kart on the PS2. Odds are, we aren’t going to pretend that we’re princesses and run around the house with crowns on. We’re growing out of that and into trips to the mall or getting pizza in the late hours of the night. Eventually, we’ll be sipping wine at a fancy restaurant and talking about how we can’t wait for our tax returns to come so we can finally buy that new KitchenAid stand-up mixer.
With the nostalgic bits and sentimental parts out of the way, I’d like to say a few things.
First of all, don’t be a dingus. If an opportunity comes your way, take it. Don’t do things halfway because then you’ll only get half the benefits or half the experience or half the value. Try your best at everything. You’d be dumb not to.
Second, be your own person. Have your own opinions, your own thoughts, your own habits or mannerisms. Don’t let anyone try and sway you out of your beliefs because you make you, you, if that makes sense. Don’t do something just because someone tells you you should or because that’s what’s expected. If you don’t want to eat that pizza, don’t eat it and if you do want it then have it. And by pizza I mean drugs and alcohol because the older you get the more prevalent it becomes.
Third, be careful. Don’t put yourself in a situation that can hurt you or others around you. You’re too important and meaningful to so many people to make careless decisions that might harm you.
Fourth, it’s fine to mess up. In fact, you should. I’ve gone my whole life trying not to mess up and it is hard. You learn from your mess ups, so when you do fumble, take note of why you did and don’t do it again.
Fifth, everything is figure-out-able and things will get better. God doesn’t throw anything at you that you can’t handle. Everything that you’ve ever gone through or will ever go through is meant to make you stronger. In the moment, it may suck. For a while, it may suck. But it won’t suck forever. Right now, you’re aged fifteen and eleven. You’re very young. This is arguably the most difficult time of your life as you’re currently still strongly dependent and don't know exactly who you are as a person. Life happens on an upward trajectory, so just get through the tough times and learn what you can. Though I’m only eighteen and have only just begun my life as an independent (barely), I can already tell that things get better progressively.
Let me just end this by saying I’m always there for you. Siblings are built in BFF’s. They’re there whether you like it or not, so I hope you like it because I sure do.
