New World Record

In the last few weeks there have been several new world records made. All are amazing, and most are in the realm of athletics due to the 2008 Olympics. However, there is one non-athletic record that I know of that took place in my home.

Saturday morning my brother packed up his car and left for his junior year of college. Then on Sunday morning, my mom found me as I was getting ready for church to tell me, "I miss him already." The reasons that make this a world record are as follows:

1. The verbal expression of missing my brother occurred less than 24 hours after his departure.


2. This is his junior year of college, not his freshman year. He's been away before.


3. It already felt as if my brother wasn't home for a large portion of the summer due to his work and sleep schedule.

This third reason isn't very solid, though. Despite his odd schedule, we still knew he was living at home and would be back within a matter of hours. Somehow that made it different.

Earlier this week, as I was lying in bed at night, I found myself expecting to hear the front door open at any moment, followed by the sound of almost inaudible footsteps and the rustling of a reused plastic grocery bag. When I realized that I wouldn't hear him because he'd gone back to school, my heart sank a little.