We drove the hour and a half from Massachusetts to Albany, finally arriving in the beautiful area of Troy, New York. As Claire eloquently put it, "Sitting on stoops is big here." We finally found Claire's sorority house, the humble abode of Alpha Gamma Delta, and started dragging things up stairs to an extremely green room. Then the family headed out to lunch. While we waited, we generally discussed a single topic, being, "OH MY GOD WE'RE SO HUNGRY." After eating delicious food, we went to the RPI bookstore where we picked up Claire's books and got me some much needed swag. I got a pair of Rensselaer shorts. I happen to be wearing them right now. Gotta represent my sister's genius.
We threw our purchases in the car and headed back to the sorority house. We all got out for goodbyes, at which point I unexpectedly started to sob. Or expectedly. I cry at everything. We climbed reluctantly back into the car. I could hardly fathom having to wait until October to see my sister. Little did I know.
About a half an hour later, we got a lovely call. Claire's textbooks were still in the trunk. We turned around, sentimentality mostly extinguished.
I have to say though, this summer I got closer to my sister than ever. Even when she was jumping on my bed at 7 a.m. to go skiing, I was glad she was there. I don't know exactly how to put it into words, but basically she's the best.
I spent the next day trying to organize my piles of junk to pack into the car. We all got up at six a.m after a night of booming thunderstorms and slid into the car. Four hours later, I was here.
Then I remembered hellos can be the perfect antidote to goodbyes. When you come to college your life splinters. Friendships and happiness are found in all the shards, but you have to come to realize that no matter what you'll always be missing someone. You also come to realize that that's okay and that life is really built around the people you're able to miss, regardless of who's actually in reach.
I'm settling into a great new year. I'm ready for adventures with my girls and for tackling new challenges at every turn. It's going to be great.
I still have to be at work at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow though.
