I’m blessed to have three brilliant siblings; one brother and two sisters. We vary in age from the oldest being 24, and the youngest being just four years old. I’ve always been used to sharing a household with them, however when Ashley went to college the house grew quieter. That was about six years ago, and I thought having her away was pretty tough (but I would never tell her that), even though she was less than a 3 hour drive away. My youngest sister Reilly wasn’t born yet, so that meant it was just my brother Nathan, who’s three years younger than I am, and I figuring out what life would be like now. Flash forward to this year; Ashley had been living in our area again, so I was used to seeing her pretty regularly, and she up and moved to Australia. Yup, you read that right. My sister is now impossible to drive to, and a days’ worth of air travel away.

Now I should probably mention this had been in the works for quite some time. She’d dreamed of going for as long as I can remember, and so now that she had the opportunity to go work with some of the number one researchers in her field, it was meant to be. I had just always told myself it would never happen, my sister would always live in the same state as the rest of us…or at least the same country. We hit the 100 day mark since her departure a couple of weeks ago, and it’s taught me a couple things since she’s been gone. Especially since I’ve come home from college, as it’s the first time I’ve been here that she hasn’t. I took advantage of all the random nights of going over to make dinner at her house, or the days I could randomly call and ask to get breakfast. I have to check the world clock before I call her now, as where she lives has a 13 hour time difference. In the beginning I would accidently call her at 3am her time, forgetting it’s not the middle of the afternoon where she is.

That being said, communication between us has changed quite a bit. Ashley used to call me three times a day. Asking my opinion on what she should have for lunch, to ask me if I had watched the episode of Grey’s Anatomy she had just watched (which I always had), or just to say hi. To her defense, I would call her quite often as well. She’d come visit me at school, and when I was home we’d hangout very regularly. Now I’m lucky if I see her face once a month. We still talk on the phone and we’ll send texts back and forth, but it’s not the same. We rarely get to facetime with perfect connection, and when the connection is good, it doesn’t last very long. It’s been 100 days, and I still can’t believe she’s so far away. I’m not one for sappiness, it makes me uncomfortable because I never know how to react, so when saying goodbye to Ashley at the airport I gave her a fist bump and said “have a nice trip, see you next fall”. What a doofus. I should’ve hugged her like a normal person and said I loved her because that was the last time I’d see her for a year, but she knows. It’s hardest on the best of days as well as the worst days, as that when I usually would talk to her most. When my power goes out because of someone else on my floor blowing their fuse, Ash would help me not to blow a fuse. When I got a 97 on my first college exam after being petrified I would fail every class, Ash was the first person I called. She’s my best friend, and having her on the other side has been hard to adjust to. She always knows what to say, and when to stay quiet. It’s hard that when I get good news, or if I’m having a bad day I can’t always call her. Most times it’s the middle of the night, and although I know she wouldn’t mind me waking her up, I know how grumpy she would be after the fact (no offense Ash, but you know it’s true).

Things drastically change when your sibling moves across the world. I’ve gotten used to it now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss her more and more every day. If you have siblings, give them a call, tell them you love them, or fist bump them if that’s what you’re comfortable with. Just let them know you care, because you never know when they’re going to decide to move across the world. The bright side of all of this is that I have an excuse to travel to Australia during winter break this year (fingers crossed). The other bright side is my sister is living her dreams, writing a blog, being an independent, powerful woman, eating too much ice cream, and doing lots of yoga, all while being a fantastic role model for my siblings and I. Although I don’t understand a lot of the science filled research she is doing over there, it makes me happy to see her eyes light up and to watch her glow with happiness knowing she’s doing what she’s meant to do. 100 days down, approximately 200 until I get to see you, but who’s counting? I am.