When I left for Ann Arbor, my brother was twelve, and in his first year of secondary school. Now he's just about ready to graduate and enter junior college. My sister -- she'll always be the baby of the family, even though she'll be thirteen at the end of the year. Sometimes I wish I had been around to see them grow up. Despite the distance (and the age divide -- I'm six years older than my brother and nine years older than my sister), I'm thankful we're as close as we are. They're good kids and I'm very proud of them.
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"Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk."
- Susan Scarf Merrell
