ANOTHER LESSON LEARNED

You know how they say people never appreciate what's in their own back yard? For instance, here in southeast Idaho I am only a short and fairly pretty three hour drive from the most beautiful country on the face of the earth, Yellowstone National Park. Yet I talk to people all the time who live right here in the same town and who have either never been to the park or who might have only gone once or twice in a lifetime. What do I say to that? What a shame. And it is.
But it's a bigger shame to have my little sister living only forty minutes away, near my home town of Shelley, and to only see her two or three times a year. It took her moving to Missouri to have my eyes open to what I've missed.
Going back, WAY back, in time, I was eight years old, my older sister was twelve, when we got the phone call from the hospital telling us we had a little sister. I'll never forget that moment. My sister Kandy and I jumped up and down repeatedly, yelling in delight. A baby sister.
I adored that little girl. I remember cuddling her, nestling her in the plethora of pillows my mom had on our window seat, staring into those alert, watchful eyes, and knowing SHE WAS MINE. And nobody was ever going to hurt her, or they would have to go through me. Not that this was much of a threat, as an eight-year-old boy. But the point is I thought I would have protected her with my own life if I had to. I never dreamed back then that there would be a time we were separated.
But time passed, as time does, and we both moved on. My little sister, whom I should introduce by name as Marqueta (pronounced "Mar-KEE-tuh), grew and proved to be as beautiful as an adult as she had been as a child. Some would most likely compare her to Sandra Bullock, but I'm not an SB fan, and I say she's much prettier and more intelligent and talented. I know, I'm a little biased. Marqueta went on a mission to Philadelphia, came home and married a great guy by the name of Kenneth Graham, and so my little sister, whom at the age of eight I naturally assumed would always be a Jonas, was now Marqueta Graham, and she moved away.
The Grahams have lived off and on for many years within an hour and a half of me, yet, like those people who don't visit Yellowstone, I saw them but seldom. We kept in touch now and then through email, but even that was sparse.
And then, for reasons all her own, Marqueta decided she wanted to move to Missouri. And slowly our world fell apart. Not to say we are all lying depressed on the couch, taking medication and wishing our lives away. But over the many months we've had to think of Marqueta and her family being gone we have come to realize how many things we will miss, and it became harder and harder as the weeks passed.
Today was the last day before their departure. I took part of the day off work and went to Shelley to pick up some shelves from them...and to say goodbye. I thought I could be strong and not cry, but honestly, Missouri is a long ways away, and in my current state of economics and with current gas prices I don't travel much anymore, and it could be a long, long time before I lay eyes on that part of my family again.
I could go on and on about Marqueta's little girls and her boy. But I know it would only be interesting to family. My point is, I had my sister very close to me for many years, and it has only been in the last few months that I have realized how much it has meant. And even then, you guessed it, we STILL didn't visit any more than before!
As I said goodbye this afternoon, the tears filled my eyes, and I couldn't speak. I guess the sadness was as much for my failure to be a real brother as anything else. I know that now I will find a moment every other day when I want to see my little sister again, and there won't be any forty minute drive to accomplish that. Her beautiful little girls and the boy are going to grow and grow, and when I see them again I don't know if they will know me or even want to talk to me. That is the saddest part of all.
Don't let yourself be in the place I am this evening. If you have family who are close by, take the opportunity to visit them, because you never know when they will no longer be nearby. Yellowstone will always be in the same place.