Isn’t that what they say to people when someone is moving away, breaking up, traveling, etc?
Unfortunately for me, that is a phrase that I have been thinking about non-stop for the past few months. No, I don’t have a boyfriend breaking up with me, and no, thankfully Jeremy doesn’t travel for work much anymore. But what I do have just sucks, I have a sister, who happens to be my best friend, moving to Colorado.
Let me tell you a little bit about my relationship with my sister. We are 18 months apart, and have done everything in life together. We had the same jobs all through high school, we even lived together{outside of the parents home} and we both served on the Jr.High staff at our church in college. We started dating our now hubbys within months of each other, and got engaged a month apart. We got married within 7 months of each other, and had our first {and second} boys just months apart from each other. We hated each other in middle school {mainly because I was a devil child back then}, but other than those few years, we have always been insanely close.
I don’t know what I would have done with my sister by my side for so many times. Times when we were little and bored with our big brother, so we played together. Times when I had heart break {oh the heart break of teenagers} growing up and she was the first person I always called. Times when we went through {and are still going through} really tough family situations, she is my rock in it. She is the sister you can call to chat non-sense, to talk deep, to cry, to laugh, anything. And because of this, she gets calls from me at least twice a day, every day.
Through all the friends, boyfriends, family up’s and down’s, and hideous hairstyles, she has been my person. She is my Christina Yang, and I am her Meredith Grey {or the other way around}. She is the most loving, generous, kind, thoughtful, and forgiving person I know. Heck- she didn’t even get mad at me when I accidentally {I swear I didn’t mean to} drank too much the night of her rehearsal dinner and felt like crap the morning of her wedding. Who doesn’t get furious with their Maid-of-honor for doing that? My sister!
She has always been my protector. While I do have an amazing big brother, he wasn’t super involved in my life when I was in High School {he was in college at the time}. But heck, I didn’t need the typical protective big brother, because my sister was 100x more protective than he would have ever been! She watched out for me, stood up for me, and encouraged me constantly.
And if it wasn’t enough that she is the best sister and friend, she then became an incredible mom to her boys, and aunt to mine.
So now, here is where I need your help. I know that I am not the only person to have someone they love deeply move away. What are your best tips on how to handle this? Because she leaves in two weeks, and so far my only coping method is binge watching Parenthood and just bawling my freaking eyes out. And while that show is amazing and cry worthy on its own, the sob-sessions I am having daily are a little much. So how have you handled this? What did you do to make it easy to for you and the person leaving? I could use all the help I can get!! And in the mean time- if you see me in public and i’m crying, no worries- its normal. And if you see me being extra sappy and emotional over the next few months, just bear with me:)
My daughter (and grandsons) live in Colorado Springs. It’s really a short flight from Phoenix (or Tucson) to Denver – and inexpensive! Fly Southwest – they don’t even charge for a bag! Not sure if Denver would be where you would want to fly into…just supplying the info.
So funny story, my person is also my sister. She is 8 years older than me but ever since I graduated high school (15 years ago, yikes!) we have been super close. Last year on April fools, I told my sister that my husband had been offered a job opportunity and that we were moving 4 hours away. You would have thought I told her that I was dying!! She started to ball in hysterics and told me that I was absolutely not allowed to move away. Bless. I quickly had to tell her April fools and she was none too happy with me! But she is my person so she got over it seconds later and we had a good laugh. So all this to say, I am no help! I would die if my sister had to move away and tell her she is not allowed to go! Saying a prayer for you and hoping you can find the silver lining. Like how awesome will it be to have a vacation house in Colorado?? Good luck!
Megan, You are not allowed to joke about something so sad for us sisters:) I am just trying now to focus on being there as a support for her, rather than just be depressed about losing her! It will be SO awesome having a place to go in Colorado though:)
Keep in mind that it’s probably not ‘forever’. She may be back before you know it. Otherwise, as the other commenter mentioned, visit often. You are so lucky to have a person like that in your life; if only separated by distance. Love will get you through this and maybe have another donut.
FaceTime or Skype. My husband and I live in Ireland and my daughter, son-in-law and grandson live in Holland. We talk daily, but the video makes it so much better, seeing their expressions and just being able to watch my grandson play. Also when my grandson sees me, he really knows me.
I know what you’re feeling. I’ve lived away from my family 6+ years. It’s not easy, but it does get easier. And it’s more easy now with fun things like facetime and talking on the phone. If you make an effort it’ll ease the fact she’s not right there. It does get easier I promise.
Thanks Andrea. Facetime is our new best friend for sure!! Sorry you have to deal with the distance too