23 Years

This year is absolutely amazing for me. I have so many blessings to thank God for, and I still wake up in the morning and can't believe I am in Guam. Where are the freeways?? Anyway, as you all know, Christmas is coming up very soon. In fact, it'll be here one day earlier for me than all of you in the states. Aside from all of this weirdness, this year is also my first Christmas without my sister, Esther. Ever since she was born, we spent every Christmas together, going back her 23 years on the planet. When our parents divorced, we traveled coast to coast together. When she moved to California, I'd drive the six hours from Riverside to Monterrey to pick her up, and then drive the three hours to Sacramento area to spend Christmas with our dad. When we were going back east, she would take a short flight down to Riverside county to fly back with me. Recently, Esther moved to Santa Barbara for photography school. This meant that she was only 3 hours away (2.5 if there wasn't traffic and I kept a really, really good speed the whole way). My favorite long weekend or even just a night activity was to drive up to Santa Barbara and spend time with her. We would walk to Trader Joe's, go eat at The Habit, shop at Drishti (my yoga store), and even found a great vegetarian/vegan restaurant right next door. Whenever she needed models for her assignments, I'd go help out. Sometimes, I brought friends like Faisal or some of my girlfriends. Before I left for Guam, I got to meet up with her at Domenico's, a family favorite Italian restaurant. A few weeks before that, we had a "Day in LA" adventure. She took the train into downtown LA, where I picked her up for some cupcakes at Sprinkles and dinner at The Waffle, and went to LACMA (museum). We went to a Mat Kearney show after The Waffle one night, too. Our favorite things are hanging out over good eats and checking out the local culture and museums. Even when we're in New York, we do museums and lunch. I love being able to hang out with my sister in anything we do, though, and at this time of the year, I'm really missing my family, especially my sister. We have spent all of our Christmasses together, and even though I am sharing this one with some sisters, it's going to be very different for me. Last year, we drove to my dad's for Christmas and then up to Bend, OR for New Years. We set out on snowy, icy roads up the 5 and then through Weed and Klammath on our way to Bend. At some point, they stopped grooming the roads. I thought we were going to slide off the road. We somehow, by the grace of God, made it to Bend in all of the ice and snow. When we were driving up our sister's road, we got stuck. We made it 8 hours through all of that to get stuck right in front of the house. I look back on that and it cracks me up. Our drive was much better on the way back, although it was also incredibly interesting.



One year, my boss told me "well, that's part of growing up." But I don't think part of growing up means spending so much time away from your family, especially at the holidays. I miss you, love you, and look forward to spending time with you again hopefully very soon, and of course, with my sister again.