September 13, 2016
There are many crossroads we all come to in life. Some are small and almost insignificant, while others are monumental and seem impossible to decide on. The biggest ones change lives, along with everyone around them. Having kids, getting married, moving to a different city, or simply starting school are just a few examples of biggest events in people’s lives. How we deal with these choices says a lot about ourselves. My sister left for college and brought us all to one of those crossroads. She brought us to the real world.
Her leaving wasn’t too big of a deal though. Leaving home is an eventual thing we all have to do at one point or another. Every parent cries on drop-off day and every sibling calls dibs on the newly emptied room. The real weight of her leaving wasn’t what we felt, but rather what it meant.
It meant that childhood was over. We all were children at some point. We all had those childhood dreams and friends that we shared everything with, but we all have to grow up at some point and make something of ourselves. It’s a scary thought that they all might just amount to useless memories and broken dreams in the long-run.
They should never be just memories, though. We should keep our experiences and memories with us for as long as we live. If we forget who we were, what made us, what built us into the people that we are today, then we won’t have any substance in our soul. Even though that’s true, it’s still just as important to grow.
Saying that should forget our past to make a better future is just as senseless as saying that we should live in memories and never in the present. We all grow in life; even though it may be in different directions, we should all remember our roots.
My sister left home for the real world. She made innumerable memories that she’ll hopefully take with her until the end. I can only hope that not only my sister Hannah, but every person I know will look to the past for guidance while moving to the future. In a way, she never left. In a way, no one ever leaves. We live in each others memories forever. She may have left home, but she’ll never leave us.
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