I miss my brother. 

My twin brother and I were super close when we were younger. We used to do everything together. 

My brother was basically my role model. Whatever he did, I copied his actions and choices. 

I went to his baseball games. My mom wanted me to concentrate really hard on Matt when he was at bat and use my “twin juju” to help him hit the ball. I’m not sure if the “juju” was the ticket or if he was just due for a hit. 

We went to the same school and in the same class from first grade to eighth, then different classes in high school. Then finally he went to Pullman about five hours away and I stayed home for college. 

I wanted to go to WSU too, but it’s just not my time yet. It’s strange not to see him every day like I’m used to, but I came to the conclusion that it’s just time for us to separate, finding our own paths in life. 

When we got older, I noticed that we were drifting apart, but didn’t think much of it. He has his friends and I have my friends. Now that he’s away at college, and I’m here at college, even though we still keep in touch, I know everything is changing.

Everyone that has a sibling misses them when they are away. These are some feelings people have when they miss their sibling when they are gone. 

It definitely hurts when they go away, especially if you were with each other your whole life and not used to them being away.

Sometimes you forget that they are not at home; you are just too busy to think about it. Sometimes you see something that reminds you of them and you are always thinking of them for a while. 

I admit at the beginning I was happy with Matt gone. It was nice being by myself for once. But, after a while, when I got used to having him gone, I started to miss him more and more. 

The difference between having a twin away at college rather than just having a sibling away at college is that with a twin you are with them from the moment you were born. Most of the time you do everything together.

You are not used to having them away. You have a completely different feeling. It’s like part of yourself is gone. At least it feels like that to me. Like if I’m in Matt’s room, I think of a lot of the things Matt did or that we did together, all at once.

I know he is really happy at WSU and that’s all I wanted for him – to be happy. So even though I miss him, I know that I’ll be fine if he is. 

When a sibling is just away for college, it is almost the same amount of pain, although it is different too.  For example, even if you could be really close, you don’t share the same birthday, you aren’t the same age. 

I asked my brother, Matt, what it’s like to be separated since we’re not used to it. 

“Being separated during college is definitely weird because you are missing the person that has been with you almost every single day from the start,” he said. “It takes a while to get used to it, but technology makes it easier. It makes me happy in a way because we are both growing up and moving on in life, but we don’t get to see each other as much anymore.” 

I asked my best friend what it’s like being separated from her sibling. She talked about her older brother. She is a state away from him.

“With Nick I definitely miss him a lot but we text each other sometimes and I’m always  super glad to see him on breaks and spend as much time with him as I can,” she said. 

Being separated from someone you care about is a challenge. Everything is changing in front of my eyes, but I know everything is going to be fine. I will be proud of Matt no matter what he does. 

Kelsey Ahlf is a Thunderword staff reporter.