Growing up is a process the adults in our lives always tell us about. They say, “you’re growing up so fast!” or “look how big you’ve gotten!” or “you used to be so small!” We never take stock of these comments as young adults, at least I didn’t, until all of a sudden here I was 21-years-old.
The other thing they don’t tell you is that while you were busy not noticing yourself grow up, the other people in your life were busy doing it too. Not only are you well past childhood and Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” so are your friends, your schoolmates, your siblings.
I look at my sisters these days, especially now during the holiday season, and get unreasonably sentimental. Being the youngest, of course, they’re taller than me, but I’ve started to recognize things I hadn’t before. They’re fully formed people, with thoughts, and feelings, and experiences; some that I have never known about and some so insignificant that they will probably never tell me.
While I was busy growing up, my sisters had already made it across the finish line, and then some. My oldest sister is preparing to move out of the house and across the country for her first real “big girl” job. My twin sister is applying to graduate schools across the country far away from home.
What I’m realizing as I’m reminiscing on the idea of growing up, how I’ve never considered it before, and that it affects those closest to me, is that in the end, it can’t keep me apart from the people I love most.
Sisters, family, and friends might grow up and move away. I might even do the same myself; I was too busy growing up too fast that I failed to realize everyone else was doing it too. What I know now is that I must cherish the time that I have with them, especially during the holidays, and tell them that I love them, even if it is a bit awkward the first time around.