These past few weeks have been strange for me and my family. My older sister Olivia, who graduated last year from Lewis Cass, moved into her dorm at Purdue on August 13th. I thought at first how nice it would be for her to be out of the house, but I quickly realized she did so many things for me that I really miss about not having her still live at home.

When I found out we were starting school earlier this year, I did not think much of it until the bus came at 6:45 a.m. that first day. I knew with Olivia gone this year, I would have to ride the bus, but I forgot how early the bus would come and how long of a ride it was each morning. I was used to getting up much later and taking a short eight minute ride with Olivia each morning. The bus ride I have now is close to an hour!  I for sure miss Olivia for this!

I also miss her stopping at the Freeze after school on days when we both did not have to stay after school. Whenever she had a rainout from golf or a cheer practice cancelation, we would make it a tradition to stop at the freeze on the way home and do our best to try and not tell our parents or my little brother Luke as he would get very mad to be excluded!

I soon found out that I also miss Olivia when it comes to questions about homework in subjects she had already taken. Of course she would not give me the answers but would help me making up practice problems in algebra for me or going over my Spanish vocabulary with me to make sure I had it down before a test or quiz. I have been tempted at times this year to text or facetime her for help and suggestions, but I know she is busy with her own work at Purdue so I have had face reality and find other ways to study without her.

I also miss going to watch her play golf and tennis for the Kings this year. I enjoyed walking the courses and watching her and her fellow teammate’s play golf. She made it to the regional her senior year and played at a really nice course in Lafayette. I also enjoyed watching her play tennis especially since I am playing for the King’s this year. She played #1 singles so I saw a lot of good players and it has help motivated me to get to the same level!

Overall, I just miss Olivia. I forget how much we use to laugh and have fun. Even though we did not get along all the time, I miss not having her around to talk to. She always gave me advice whether I wanted it or not . However, most of the time I realized that what she told me was usually right. I did not realize how much I would miss my big sister this year until it became a reality!