In six short months, I’m going to be an only child. My brother, Jack, will be boarding a flight to Golden, Colorado to go to college. Although Colorado is only 2,000 miles away, it feels like light-years after spending the last 15 years with Jack less than 20 feet away in the room next to mine.
Over the past year, give or take a little, I have gotten entirely fed up with my brother constantly being the only topic of conversation.
“Where is Jack going to college?”
“What is Jack going to study in college?”
“What is Jack going to do after graduation?”
“Has Jack applied for any scholarships?”
I have answered these questions a thousand times and the answers are now programmed into my brain. For the record, he is attending Colorado School of Mines to study mechanical engineering and he has received a scholarship.
When I was younger I always thought the day Jack went to college would be a great day for me. We always got along fairly well but I was excited to be an only child; however, as this summer looms closer, I have taken on a different perspective. What is life going to be like as a somewhat only child? Who is going to drive me around? Who is going to help me with my homework?
His decision to go out of state means he won’t be visiting on the weekends and he won’t be able to visit to celebrate birthdays. I have lived my whole life with an older brother and I used to think he was a burden, but now that he’s leaving, I realize all of the good things he brought into my life. He was the person I had crammed into the back seat with on road trips and later he was the person driving the car.
Last summer was the first time we took a road trip alone and it was also the last. We drove seven hours to West Virginia to visit our dad over summer break. Despite the fact that he controlled the music and he refused to stop for food, it was a better experience than I expected it to be.
“We’ll be there soon, Chloe,” he said. “You can’t be that hungry.”
Apparently his idea of being somewhere soon is three hours. It may sound strange since he was depriving me of food, but looking back, this was the day it dawned on me that he was actually going to college and wouldn’t be around anymore.
I’m going to miss having an older brother nearby to make me laugh and drive me to my friend’s house, but I’m excited to see what his future holds.
– By Chloe Maynard