New Steps

 Today, my family and I put my little not so little sister Emily on a plane to Chicago

this plane, to be exact

which will connect her to a plane to London

which will connect her to a plane to Paris

which will put her in a car for three hours

in order to reach her new home for six months. 

She worked hard to get to this day, 

taking extra classes to have enough credits to graduate early

studying French even when she wasn't taking a class

lining up everything from visas to french class schedules 

getting to know her new host family

My sister, a foreign an exchange student 

I'm so proud of Emily. At 18, I would not have been brave enough to

travel by myself across the ocean

speak a second language all day, every day

attend high school in a foreign country

be 4,000 miles away from my family

not see my family six 1/2 months

and yet, she's the perfect person to do it

passionate about French

excited to try new things

open to adventures and experiences

comfortable with traveling

planning ahead for a career

interested in meeting new people

willing to adapt to new situations

She's going to be amazing in France

will come back fluent in French

likely with an appetite to travel even more

full of all sorts of new knowledge

with hundreds of pictures and stories to share.

 I'm excited for her...

but I'm also going to miss her. 

Miss being able to send her a funny text

or call her to gossip about the latest episode of Once Upon a Time, 

surprising her by coming home early and watching movies all night, 

showing her around Ames and ISU's campus, 

random dance parties in the kitchen,

even stupid little arguments that annoy us both.

I will miss her.

My parents will too - they're empty nesters a semester early!

But for now, I'm going to be excited for Emily. 

I'm going to religiously follow and comment on her blog, Following Fish.

I'm going to write her letters

and send her emails 

and set up skype dates

and share her adventures with our family and friends. 

Please, keep her in your prayers these next few days. 

It's going to be an adjustment, 

but she's going to be just fine!

- Erin -