Prompt: What’s the most time you’ve ever spent apart from your favorite person?

To answer this is to surely make enemies, as I have to identify who my favorite person is. I have lots of favorite people. How do I pick just one to write about? So if you are reading this and you fancy yourself one of my favorite people, just know that you probably are, and I’m only writing about ONE experience of ONE period of time I spent apart from ONE of my favorite people.

My sister Deanne.

When she moved to Japan, I thought I would die. For years, we talked nearly every day. Even if for only five minutes on my way home from school, we checked in every day. That would be impossible while she lived in Japan, with more than half a day’s time difference between us.

Sometimes we talked as I drove to school at 6:30 a.m. (while she was putting kids to bed). Sometimes I stayed up past my bedtime and talked to her until 11 or 11:30 p.m. (while she had a few moments before picking up kids from school). But one thing’s for sure: communication was sporadic and it sucked.

Now she lives in the Eastern Time Zone and I got so used to not talking to her that I forget I can call her pretty much anytime without her being dead asleep (unless she’s napping) (which has happened).

Yes, it was tough to be apart from Deanne, even though we haven’t lived in the same state since 1996. But the time apart did teach me to be a little more self-reliant when I would be fretting over some problem, and it reminded me to be grateful for time spent with her.

Even when that time is both of us one the phone, not saying much of anything, just sitting there knowing someone is on the other end of the line.