Not That Far Away

My sister Claudia is my favorite (non-Husband) person in the world.



She is eight years younger and lives in Gainesvegas, Georgia, which is what I call it because it's not.

This is her ridiculously gorgeous and sweet natured son Jack. He likes to babble and stuff random things into her purse.



We haven't always liked each other.

When she was about nine months old, I hid her in a dirty clothes basket and tried to convince my mother Claudia ran away from home, but it was no big deal. She still had my brother and me.

The Big D did not buy it and eventually Claudia woke up, cried and Mom tracked her down. (Seriously she was fine and asleep on soft towel. No harm done.)

Claudia, for a variety of reasons, was my miniature companion for years.

My mom was dating at about the same time I was, so if there was a choice on who was going to babysit, I usually was on duty.

So instead of canceling my date, when the gentleman in question showed up, I'd just hide her behind the door for a minute and grab both our coats.

Then sweetly inform him that we were so excited to go to a movie, but surely he would understand that it needed to be PG tonight. Amazingly enough, they were always good sports about it. (I used to call it "The Boy Test," if they couldn't be a good sport about the occasional sister tag-along, they didn't last long.)

So Claudia, dressed in her best overalls and pigtails, would head out with us.

Later on, when I was in college Claudia would spend the long January weekend with me in Athens, doing whatever I was doing on those days. We'd go to class, visit beaus, shop, go to Waffle House late night, even fraternity parties.

I always had good friends there who would keep an eye on her, plus she never left my sight. And early on, we practiced what to do if someone offered her a beer or a cigarette..."No thanks I'm trying to quit." Which was hilarious and ridiculous and kept any pressure at bay.

We have several unbreakable family traditions like sneaking away from family gatherings for a pre-Christmas dinner bloody Mary and the annual Santa-Stops-By-the-7/11 break.

She lived with me for a while during the New York years and there has rarely been a time when we haven't talked every single day.

Until now. And both of us were freaking out a little bit about it before Husband and I moved here. We're six hours away and it's often hard to connect.

People even pulled Husband aside and would whisper, "You know, it would be really good if you could figure out a way for the two of them to talk as often as possible."

So he did of course.

We have skype and he gives me his international cell phone whenever I need it. And he hasn't said one word about my occasional international use of my own norwegian phone.

But no system is perfect, so it's the second best thing to know that somewhere on the other side of the world is a green star just like my red one.