Chicago Week 4: Never such devoted sisters

I've got some good friends. In high school it was these two. We were ridiculously studious, but we still found time (usually at 6 a.m.) to watch Jane Austin movies and talk and read books together.

In college there was a whole crew. We ate every meal together and studied for finals together and went on kayaking trips and hiked West Texas mountains. Some of them still know me better than I know myself.

Then a few years later, when I thought good friends couldn't exist after college, I moved to Mexico and met this group of women. Even though we only spent one year together we grew close and I still miss them.

And now here I am in grad school, and every semester I meet more lovely people who help me become a better person and provide plenty of opportunities for parties and mud races and all sorts of great times.

I couldn't be more grateful for all the friends I've accumulated, and I try to hold onto them as best as I can, but the thing I'm realizing more and more is that my three sisters are the people who will be there, no matter what, all the time, forever. They make me who I am. Without any one of them, I would be a different person. They're the best part of my life, the part that makes me absolutely certain that life is worth living.

This week I got to see two of them. #s 2 and 4 were just north of Chicago with the camp they work for, so I visited them as often as I could.

We went to coffee shops and caught up on each other's lives.

We toured my mother's hometown and ate macaroons.

We ate pizza in downtown Chicago.

We talked about August, when we'll all four be together for a whole month. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am. I have three people who grew up with me. They know where I come from and they share so many of my experiences even though we're all four so different. We're spread across the country now, and maybe we will be forever, but when I need someone who instantly understands, I have three numbers I can call. That's pretty incredible.