Apron Strings

My little sister had her second baby today and I can't stop hearing the song 'Apron Strings' from Everything but the Girl in my head. It's one of those songs that is very appropriate for this day, especially since the movie 'She's Having a Baby' was one of our favorites in the 80's. That movie was also the first time we heard the song.

My sister and I have been inseparable since birth and moving to Denmark is by far the furthest we have ever been from each other, which has forced us to wait the longest to spend time together. She was pregnant when I decided to get married and move to Denmark, and we knew the life we always thought we would have after we were both married and had kids (which included living in the same city of Madison, WI) was probably not going to happen any time soon. That was confirmed after she and her husband decided to move back to the town we grew up in to raise their little boy just over a year ago. It was the right decision for their now growing family, but both of us being so far apart from each other and the life we enjoyed before the distance began has been hard.

However, some sacrifices are worth making. Being close to both parents has been a blessing in disguise for my sister and her husband, and their little boys are going to be raised in a safe and small community, surrounded by the beautiful countryside. The same way their Dad enjoyed growing up. And I am experiencing something I have always wanted to. Life in another country and the chance to study abroad, all with the love and support of an amazing husband and family. Life is good and we are both grateful, but boy would I give anything to be there today. "I was happy, I knew that. While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize - sometimes with astonishment - how happy we had been." Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek