good-bye, mando!

Today my lil sister packs up her bags and begins her days-long journey to Seattle, Washington, where she will begin law school at Seattle University this summer. I'm proud of her, for graduating at the top of her class from DePaul University, and for taking the leap to embark on such a big adventure.

Perhaps most of all, though, I am scared for her. Scared because she's about to spend 4 days in a Uhaul with this guy:

(Nels, Mandy)

That's our dad, who apparently thinks he is Madonna and is also attempting to rock a new fashion trend by stringing more than one pair of specs around his neck (his record is three). He may be goofy, but the man's a saint. Between Mandy and I, he and my mom will have moved us over 15 times in the past 5 years, crossing the entire country thriceover in the process. The two of them are packing up and taking off this afternoon and taking 90 west until they reach Mandy's new city, and her new life as a law student.

I have no doubt that my sister will be tremendously successful in law school. Her energy, passion and intelligence will make her a formidable lawyer, and I feel sorry for any sorry schmuck who has to come up against her in court!I hope her years in law school are filled with adventures and learning...as long as she doesn't learn how to out-argue me!

It's been really wonderful having Mandy so close to me in Chicago the last four years, and I feel like our relationship has finally evolved from the love-hate immaturity of high school to the deep friendship it was truly meant to be. Sadly, our combined moves means the distance between us will jump from 1 mile to 2,928 miles, but I am sure we will remain as close as ever!

Good luck, Mando. I'll miss you, but I can't wait to hear all about your new adventure!