Today I Said Goodbye

to my sister. She joined the Navy and she leaves tomorrow for bootcamp in Illinois. She's only 16 months younger than I am, so I don't really remember a time that she wasn't around. Because we were close in age, and I've always been little, my mom constantly fielded the same question, "Are they twins?" For the longest time we shared a room, my sister was always around. When I went to school, she was there the following year. When I learned to drive, she was in the backseat waiting for her turn. When she played softball...I tried...I wasn't very good at it though, but we were out there. We were on different teams one year, and I asked her what she would do if she was guarding the base I needed. She said she'd let me have it. Family came before the game. She was there when I got married. When my children were born, even came to some of the sonograms with us. She's always been forgiving and supportive. As much as we did together, we were nothing alike...she was actually good at sports, and she was scared to death on a stage. I'm not too squeamish about bugs, spiders, and snakes...she runs the other way, often times with a high squeal, a shiver, and a few tears. I've often thought that if you meshed us into one person, we'd be a very well rounded, nearly perfect person...and now she's moving away and it's hard to see her go. I didn't cry much when I said good bye to her today, but I'm by myself now, and that's usually when I cry. I'm going to miss my sister. She's one of the bravest, strongest women I know. I'm proud of her, but that doesn't make it any easier to watch her go.