Vaya con Dios, mi hermanita

Today my sister Grace leaves for a one-year service term in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Which means (I just calculated) that she will be 4,785 miles away. I am incredibly proud of her for doing this. Several of my friends have done terms with SALT, but mostly after college -- and Grace is going before college. I wish I had taken a gap year.

She is nervous and excited about going. I am nervous and excited for her, but not being the one going, and six more years of perspective, means I'm mostly just excited for her. I know she is going to have an amazing experience and learn so much. She is already a thoughtful, funny, mature young woman. She will come back with a more global perspective, kickass Spanish skills, and who knows what other invaluable experiences. In case you want to follow her journey, she's blogging about it here.

I have been pretty happy about my sister since about the time I found out I was getting a sister. That's me (age almost 6) on the right, my brother Nicholas (4) on the left, and baby Grace in the middle. Circa March 1993.

And more recently: