I live a whopping 600-miles away from my family.
Six-hundred miles too far away from my best friends—my two little sisters.
Not so little anymore, they are still the loves of my life and the eternal thorns in my side. They drive me absolutely up the wall, even from a distance, and that makes me wish I never left.
Phone calls and text messages just don’t do it justice. We’re used to pulling each other’s hair out and singing loudly in one another’s face. Distance has made “sistering” a bit hard.
We get to see each other on respective holidays, but in order to keep the annoying, sisterly love, we’ve had to get a bit creative.
1. Send each other embarrassing old photos.
There’s nothing I love (and loathe) more than having my phone blow up with texts from my sister, only to look down and realize she has sent me 10 photos of me in my prime at the age of 11.
Just because I’m away at college does not mean I don’t have some goodies of you with a bad haircut stored in my phone, Nicole. Watch out.
2. Maintain the mischief.
“I’m gonna tell mom!” is just as scary in a text 15 years later as it was in the moment as seven-year-olds.
Nothing screams sisterly love more than pulling out the big guns and scaring the life out of a sister with blackmail threats.
I may be 600-miles away, but you can bet your bottom dollar I’ve got dirt on you, too. But don’t worry, I won’t tell mom which one of us poured the antibiotics down the drain when we all had strep. (It wasn’t me, mom.)
All of this out of love, of course.
3. Care packages are a thing.
I one time had to open/unwrap/pull apart/cut a package the size of my leg that I had received from one of my sisters, only to reveal a tiny envelope-like box with a bracelet in it. The homemade bracelet is one of my most prized possessions, but its packaging could have used some help.
Coded letters, cards that are blank just for the heck of it, or handwritten notes on tiny, ripped up pieces of paper in a box are all ways we keep snail mail alive and well.
Decoding an important encryption of a story about our dog is way more exciting than reading it in a text message. And the fact that you guys spent way too much time on my letters just shows how much homework you aren’t getting done. Get on it.
4. Always say “I love you.”
Whether it’s in a text message or in a cross-eyed selfie on snapchat, we always find ways to tell each other that we love and miss each other.
My sisters mean the world to me, and no amount of distance has been able to hinder our communication, or our never-ending sass with each other.
I love you guys. I’ll send you a goodnight snap.
