a bittersweet look into the future

"A woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. "

If you know me, you know that I love my sister. I am so blessed by the Lord to have such a sweet sister. This fall, she is going to college (Lord willing), and I can't express how happy I am for her, but also very saddened that I will be losing her for some time.
She has ever been so encouraging to me in my life. She has been an example of godliness that I have desperately needed in my teen years. As I have watched her, and listened to her, I thank my God upon every remembrance of her. She has also been my wise counsel, my support, my truest friend. One time in junior high, I actually made a speech about "My Best Friend"....who is Brooke. I told all about times when she talked me out of crazy things I wanted to do and stuff like that. I can look back now and be glad I had someone looking out for me!
I've already told her that if she goes to college, it's really going to be hard. Ever since I can remember, we've done everything together. Since we were homeschooled, it seems there was never a time I was away from Brooke! I think the times when we used to fight was probably because we were sick of each other (we even shared a room). We never stayed mad at each other for too long though. We were buddies, and life just wasn't fun when Brooke was mad at me/I was mad I Brooke. I think the thing I hated most that Brooke would do to me when we were in a fight was ignore me. Aka: the silent treatment. It drove me crazy! Goodness, have we've had some argruments. Most of them were so dumb!!! Like an argrument about "My doll is a monkey, but yours is a baboon because it doesn't have a tail". I cried. Mine was I monkey too, I knew it! It crushed me when Brooke told me it was a baboon and not a monkey. It's pretty funny now.
Growing up so close to my big sister has really blessed me in so many ways. She is my confidant. I can't imagine life without her, and pretty soon I'll have to face it. What will life be like without my big sister around? This whole college thing is a big step in her life, and I am so proud and happy for her. But it's a big step for me as well. I am going to have to take on the role as being "the oldest". I will have alot more responsibilities, no doubt. But most of all, the hardest thing will be to learn how to live without my best friend. It's going to kill me when she leaves. I know that this is a great thing for her, so at the same time I am very happy!