As a triplet, I have always had a natural group of friends; two sisters who stuck by my side during the good and bad times, taking on the world one day at a time (that would be the narration to our movie trailer BTW). We fought, we laughed, we cuddled, we did it all. For eighteen years I never felt awkward at a summer camp, I never came home to an empty house, I never felt alone…
Then college hit, it hit like a blindsided slap to the face. My sisters and I all decided to attend different universities. My “older” sister (a minute doesn’t count Mae, hop off) is a collegiate athlete at a university across the country. My “younger” sister (a minute does count Grace, sit down) is in a sorority at my rival university. I (the “middle” and far superior sister) am at a massive university 15 minutes away from home. We are different in so many ways, but we are also the same.
We shared friends. We shared interests. We shared classes. We shared clothes. To be quite honest, I recently realized I shared everything with them. However, I knew college was about independence and individuality and I was beyond excited for that. Except now that I have it, it freaks me out in the slightest.
I have new friends that my sisters don’t know in the ways that I know them. I call and tell some funny story my friend told me that morning and they have to imagine this person they have never met. It always comes as a surprise to me that I have to explain who that friend is, “Remember Mae? We went to In-N-Out together and made a ton of Friends references?” Of course, how could they remember? They were never there.
What has been the hardest adjustment since beginning college? It’s those moments when I meet new people and immediately want to talk to my sisters about the encounter, but the conversations can no longer be as deep as they were because they simply don’t know who I am talking about.
Now there’s a gap between my sisters and I that won’t be filled. They will not always know who I am talking about, but also, they don’t have to anymore. I’ve been at college for almost a month and I’m still learning that it is okay that they aren’t with me all the time. Individuality comes with a price and I had to sacrifice two pieces of me. This sacrifice is the hardest one I’ve ever had to make but I know that it is healthy and will allow us to grow even closer in the end.