Little Sister

Katie D.

August 6, 2010 - 12:54 PM

It is an increadible thing to see my younger sibling, who I have known since her birth, settled in to her college town. I spent yesterday and last night with Kelly, adventuring in Glenwood Springs, eating sushi (this girl wouldn't even eat ketchup as a child, she was so picky!), and seeing her college town and home. I feel like things have gone crazy with time, throwing my little sister into an adult life and fabulously happy college experience.

Grand Junction, Colorado, is quite the different city from Eugene. It is smaller, for one thing, and without the political history and involvement of Eugene. It is also in the midst of a semi-arid desert of scrub and irrigated farmland. The horizon is abbreviated by a massive mesa, which Kelly proudly tells me is the largest in the world. It is enormous with rocky sides and a flat, grassy top. It dominates all other geographic features.

Kelly is studying musical theater at Mesa State College. She is learning music theory, taking classes in dance, singing, and acting, and performed in several shows last year. Her crowd is like here: a group of noisy, dramatic individuals who tend toward theatrics in all walks of life. But, like her, they are also incredibly kind and welcoming of me, a stranger in their midst.

My little sister has always been a strange mix of introvert and extrovert. She is the master of a stage presence, often playing the role of the temptress or bold comedian, and sings with such confidence and joy that I am in a constant state of awe and jealousy at musical occasions. When with people she knows well she is teasing, encouraging, and welcoming. She likes to dance. She wears makeup, which I do not, and is way into shoes and dresses.

But she can often be an introvert in large groups of strangers, which is a place where I thrive. That's one reason I was so thrilled when she came to our graduation party here in June, and met all my friends and danced the night away. Everyone loves her and her enthusiasm. I have been so lucky that she has visited me in Eugene often, living a bit of college life ahead of the normal schedule.

So it has been wonderful to swap roles.

In Grand Junction, she is the only person I know. The streets are unfamiliar, and I feel dried out and confused. But her college house has the feeling of a home to it, and her three roommates are so nice to me. I see the driving tour of her campus, and hear details about the various theater productions. We laugh in the car, in her living room, hanging out with her friends. There is no one else on earth who laughs at my jokes the way she does. After nineteen years of life together, I know just how to deliver a punch line, just when to raise an eyebrow.

I also know her well enough to see how important this life has become. That she has made Grand Junction a home the way I know live in Eugene. Her life has an entirely different focus and pattern than mine. But she is living college life with the flare and umph I would express from my dramatic little sister. She makes her way through each day and each semester tap dancing, singing, and teasing. She is a good friend and a good sister.

I imagine what life would be like if she had arrived in Oregon to live with me, with her stage presence and high heels. I am so proud of her, living as she is. I miss her when we are not together. I am so glad that she has started her life as an adult in this place of her choosing, singing through college in the Colorado dry heat, in the shadow of the mesa.