"I am coming out to visit you on my spring break." My sister Colette announced in a matter-of-fact manner during my second year of law school.
"Oh, great! I'd be great to have you here!" I responded. She was still in college, and living on a student budget, so I didn't know how she planned on making this proposed visit happen.
"But I have to earn up the money first." She cautioned me. "I am going to give plasma. Once I've sold enough, I'll buy the ticket."
"Great! What do you want to see while you are here?" I asked in my best hostess manner.
"I really don't care. I am out there to see you because I miss you. I want to get to know your life, see your school, meet your friends. So if we don't get to see much of anything, I don't really care. I am going to see you." She reiterated that final point many times before she came.
Colette is the queen of the five minute phone calls. She'll call on her way to the bus, between classes, just to say hi. That winter she often updated me. "I am close to buying the ticket to come visit you! I can't wait to come!" And come she did.
We did, of course, see the arch. And she met my friends, saw my school, and became acquainted with my life in a lovable way that is uniquely her own. The first morning of her visit, I made her some breakfast. When we sat down to eat it, I apologized that it didn't have much flavor to it. "No problem." she responded. Without saying a another word, went to her suitcase and picked out a cinnamon container. She sprinkled it on her food, and then offered me some. I just laughed. She knows me that well. She left it with me when she returned home. I still can't help but laugh and think wistfully of her whenever I stumble across the cinnamon in my cabinet with the letters C-O-L-E-T-T-E neatly printed on the label.
My third year of law school she left on a mission to California. It is always a bit of an adjustment when someone close to you leaves. No more five minute phone calls while she walked to class. No more visits. No more her.
Thankfully, she comes home on February 17, and I couldn't be more pleased!! I fly home on the 21st. Coincidentally, I am taking the MA bar on the 25th & 26th (Prayers are most welcome. Trust me, they help immensely.) so I'll be able to be home!! What a lucky twist of fate. Otherwise, I may not have been able to see her till this summer. Then, finally, I get to spend a few days just relaxing and enjoying my much missed sister.
Welcome home Colette!! Life just wasn't the same without you.
1 comment:
I love Collette! Tell her hi from me!
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