5000 miles

Did you know that Maui Hawaii is roughly 5000 miles away from Beacon NY? I know that because I feel that distance every day in my heart. My sister  Melissa lives in Maui and has lived there for over 15 years. Though I grew up with my sister around me, I spent most of my life feeling completely separate from her....she- blonde, freckles, cheerleader, perky...adorable... me- black hair, olive skin, screw school, pissed off....hard to take. I always thought we were so different " we will NEVER see eye to eye." So when my sister left for Maui I was a little sad sure, but completely fine. We would see each other when she would come home...nice to visit- I even lived with her for a bit in Maui when I was in college (my parents thought that shipping me off to a rock in the middle of the pacific ocean would make me change my partying ways....didn't work- sorry Mom and Dad, people are crazy in Hawaii too).  But then something changed- my sister got pregnant. Something in me clicked- this is my sister. My sister is having a baby. My sister- the one person who could always make me laugh so hard I peed a little in my pants. My sister- the coolest person I knew when I was 8 that always let me tag along with her and her friends. My sister- the person who put up with my crap and opened her heart and home to me when I was completely lost in college. My SOUL SISTER.  I started calling my sister almost every day when she was pregnant with Annie. When she went into labor I could barely eat or sleep. It was killing me to be in NY. Those 5000 miles had become so real to me. Soon after Melissa had Annie, I got pregnant...I will never forget the first time we were together with our children- it was the most wonderful thing I have ever experienced.  My sister, my soul sister, my inspiration- sorry it took me almost 30 years to realize this- is not different from me at all. We are the same, we are bonded by more than blood and circumstance....we are family.
I talk to Melissa as often as I can now- though not as often as I like. In those moments 5000 miles can seem so close....I can picture her in her kitchen, smells of upcountry blowing through the windows...Annie and Miles, laughing and running in the backyard barefoot and brown. We talk about our yoga practice, life and missing each other. Sometimes I get mad at her...sometimes she gets frustrated with me- and through it all I feel blessed that I found the sister I had always wished I had....that was there all along.

Yep we come from the same parents!