SISTER SISTER

My family is not just family to me. They're my best friends. They're the people I go out of my way to spend time with or do anything for. They're the people who I'm closest to and can share and do anything with. Now that we're all growing up and going our separate ways, the time that we share together is even more special than it was when we were all living in the same house. I think it's because we never know when the next time we will see each other will be, so we give our full attention and savor each moment and do everything we can together, whereas before, some days we were just kind of like "oh I see them all the time" and start doing our own separate thing. You may remember last week I posted about how my sister Kuyuki and I had a random photoshoot by the highway. Sounds weird I know, but it was so fun. Well, later that day, we ate lunch together and Kuyuki said, "I feel like we've gotten a lot closer this summer," which is true. Before, I was in college and could do absolutely nothing besides homework, and so in the summer I would just stay by myself craving that "me" time I had been lacking all year. Very seldom did I spend time with my family because I had no energy to. Now I have been out of college for a while and have been by myself enough with my parents at work, Brianna at school, and Alphonse and Kuyuki already moved out, so this summer has been all about friends and family and we've been able to send so much time together and go out and do so many things. So yes, we all have gotten a little closer this summer.

Kuyuki and I ended up spending the entire day together that day. We were barely apart. We went to church, went grocery shopping, gave each other photoshoots, ate together, took more random pictures for hours in my bedroom, then finally we just talked. And we talked for hours. Literally from about 9pm to 3am about veganism, future plans, jobs, society, travel, music, our love for marble print, and just really deep stuff. The world was quiet during the night but our minds weren't. I learned a lot about her that I didn't know before and she can probably say the same about me. Also, I didn't realize how like-minded we were. This was something I really craved. Just talking. Before when we would talk it would just be like "Hey, how's your day?" or "Hey can I show you some Vines?" or "Have you seen Ariana Grande's new music video?" But this chat was so special because it was very long, broad, and deep. Not our normal everyday chats. It made me wish Brianna and Alphonse were here to chime in on it, but Brianna is visiting New York not coming back until next week and Alphonse is at his own humble abode.

So I leave you with that. Set aside time for your family and don't take them for granted. Make your family your best friends, or at least good friends. Go places with them, do things with them, and have long, deep chats with them. It's so much fun when you get to know them on a really personal level. You may feel like you already know everything about them, when really, you realize afterwards how little you knew.