The Summer Everything Changed~ By Julia McEllen

           Every summer I look forward to those gorgeous days on the beach, tanning under the sun and swimming in the ocean. I look forward to those lazy nights, sitting by the campfire and roasting marshmallows. I look forward to those girly days, getting my nails done with my mom and my sister, and going shopping as we slurp down our Starbucks iced teas. But all of that changed this summer, when my sister, Madelyn, went away to the University of South Carolina. Soon all those days became the "last time". The last time we would ever have a girly day during the school year with her. The last time we would ever be able to come home from the first day of school and tell each other all about it.

          My sister and I are both really close, and we love to do everything together. When those last few weeks of summer were approaching, I knew she would be leaving soon and it was hard. I knew we wouldn't be able to have movie nights or talk in her room for hours on the weekends. I knew she wouldn't be there to drive me to school or pass me in the hallway anymore. When the day finally came for her to leave, my brother, my mom and I packed up all of her things and drove ten hours down to South Carolina. We thought of it as a fun family road trip to end the summer, trying to distance the fact that Madelyn would not be coming home with us afterwards. Although it was hard for me to leave her, I knew it was even harder for my mom. The first day home without my sister felt strange. I remember waking up and going into my sister's room to see if she was awake. Walking in and then remembering she wasn't home was probably the strangest part. It took awhile for us to get used to the fact that we
won't be seeing Madelyn 24/7.

         Every summer after the first week of school my family and I go apple picking with my cousins. We meet at the orchards and after picking apples, they come back to our house for a sleepover. My cousin Kara is my age and she has an older sister Cailin who is my sister's age. Despite the fact that my brother is sort of the odd one out, we are all still really close. To not have Madelyn there for our summer apple picking tradition was hard for all of us.
        Although I won't be able to see her all of the time, we write letters and call each other almost every day. She will have the time to come home a lot in her school year which makes me really excited. I think knowing that she is happy and loves her college and her roommate makes it easier to handle the fact that she is so far away. Honestly, she couldn't have picked a better place to go to college because now when I go to visit her, I get to go to the beach!