POST SCRIPTS

to prove my point that my sisters are some of the most caring, intelligent, exceptional women you could ever meet, let me tell you my story:

In 2005, I went through sorority recruitment on a whim. I couldn't wait to come to college and recruitment was a good excuse to get here a week early. I never planned to actually join a sorority. The idea of me as a sorority girl was laughable.

I arrived at Sigma Kappa on the first day to find my boss from the daycamp I worked at standing outside the door as president. Jen wasn't the sorority girl type either. She's funny and kind and is determined to be an oncologist because her little sister had leukemia as a child. (I am happy to say that she has been in remission for over a decade now.) Jen gets great grades. She's the leader of everything and somehow she still finds time to be a great friend. What was she doing in a sorority?

By the end of the week I knew. I had talked to a dozen or more Sigma Kappas and all of them had so much in common with me. I was in love and stayed up half the night hoping for a bid. It came and hear I am in the first half of my junior year even more in love with Sigma Kappa than I was that first week.

Last semester I studied abroad in Nicaragua and as of ten days ago I hadn’t seen most of my sisters in over eight months. I had a wonderful time abroad and learned a lot, but I sure missed my Sigma Kappa’s. It was so nice to get their little Facebook messages that filled me in on everything they were doing and inevitably those messages ended with “I miss you.” But even with those little reminders, I didn’t realize how much I was missed until I walked through the door last Wednesday. Every one of my sisters came running up to give me a hug and say how glad they are that I’m back. I’ve never felt so loved and so important in my entire life. It was like every time I go back to Wisconsin to visit Grammy and all of my aunts, uncles and cousins and they greet me like they’ve been waiting for me to come back all year long. It was exactly like that, like my sisters have been waiting in anticipation of my return. It is so good to be home!

They are my chosen family and like a true family, they have always come through for me. December of my freshman year, just a week before I got home in time for a final good-bye, my grandfather passed away. He and I were very close. I had spent high school caring for him full-time, to the point that I did everything but sleep at my Grandpa's house. I got the news of his death right here at Sigma Kappa. Immediately, I was surrounded by sisters offering hugs, stuffed animals, and a shoulder, but the best thing any of them gave me were these words, “Honey, I’m sorry. I know there is nothing I can do but I love you.” When I returned to my residence hall the next morning puffy-eyed and exhausted from a night of crying in a hotel room, I was greeted by a large bouquet, a box of tissues, and a bag of Hershey’s Hugs accompanied by a card signed “Your Sisters.” In the coming days, they gave me ways to distract myself and time to mourn, but I will never forget those words.

And now it has happened again. Last weekend, my Grammy, the last of my grandparents, passed away last weekend. I know that she was ready to go, but it hurts really badly that there will be no more summers at Grandma's, no more shared milkshakes, no more stories circa WWII. My sisters have comforted me, admired my Grammy's photo, listened to my stories, took care of my responsibilities while I flew home for the funeral, and greeted me enthusiastically when I got home just yesterday.

I admire these women. I try to emulate them. They have been my strength in some of the hardest times of my life and my joy in the happiest. These women are more than just worth knowing, and I consider myself to be lucky and blessed to have them in my life.