Dear little sister,

It’s weird to think that you’re about to go off to college.

It hits me in bursts that you’re about to graduate from the only world you’ve ever really known. You’re about to go through the best and most transitional phase of your life that comes with leaving home and the people who inhabit it.

It’s been one of the greatest joys to grow up with you. From hating your every breath when we were early teenagers all the way to becoming one of my best friends, being able to walk through life and experience the things we’ve experienced with you is something that I’ll always cherish. Some of the happiest and joyous memories I have come from the moments where we found ourselves laughing so uncontrollably at something that was so stupid that we were practically flooding the kitchen with tears.

Thank you for those days.

You can’t really prepare yourself for college, as I quickly found out when I left home. You can buy all the materials and perfect your dorm down to the last fiber, but nothing can prepare you for the culture shock that comes with being on your own and not having mom or anyone around to tell you what to do.

Once you leave, your world will never be the same. The houses will look different upon your arrival home. Jessie will be even older, her stubby little legs crippling beneath her. You’ll forget routes that you once traveled everyday. Phone calls from mom won’t raise annoyance, but will make your heart twinge with nostalgia of a world that seems so far away.

You must slowly learn to live without those things, and I can promise you I only wanted them more the less I got them. The image I have of you guys driving away after you dropped me off at school my freshman year has been permanently seared into my brain, because in that moment I knew I was leaving a world behind.

But I realized in that same moment that it was my new beginning. It was my chance to reinvent myself, to change who I was. This was my world, and now it’s yours. You will change so much as a person in such a short time, and as scary as that sounds, I hope that you embrace it. Take new strides, take left turns instead of right ones. Let the world around you become a place of wonder and astonishment.

Through all the new beginnings and chance encounters however, I only hope that you remember that home isn’t found within any four walls, but within the hearts of those who care the most about you.

I heard a quote in the movie Life of Pi that has stuck with me since I saw the film, and it resonates with me every single day.

“All of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.”

You are a beautiful girl who is valued and loved by many, including myself. Take each day with patience and understanding, and know that dad would be so proud of the woman you have become. I know that I am.

Yours truly,

-Your older brother